Shadowed Spirit: Dignity of an Android
by CassieKnight
Summary: A rewrite of my original story, Shadowed Spirit, though this time you can see what happened through Cell's eyes. Reading the original story first is suggested. Please R&R.
1. Interference

**The Author's Note: **First off, I've been trying since Saturday to post this for you but the site was being totally stupid up until late this afternoon, actually. But, here's what I've been promising you guys—Cell's p.o.v. on Shadowed Spirit. It's starting off a little slow, but first chapters usually do for me. I promise more action on Cell's thoughts in coming chapters. For now it's a little difficult, but I like the challenge and think that I'll get the hang on it. After all, the last three fanfics I've written were all from Layrial's side and I'm keeping the same story, but switching characters. Eek!

Also, a big shout-out and thanks to **_Hiiragi Demon_** for helping me concoct a title for this. We spent a good twenty minutes or so trying to figure out what word fit best in front of "of an android." It wasn't easy, but she helped me think of what is now there.

Anyway, reviews are always welcome and highly encouraged. Enjoy this!

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**_Shadowed Spirit: Dignity of an Android_**

**Chapter 1: **_Interference_

Since the dawn of my existence I have never considered humans even remotely adequate and substantial to my standards. The only reason that I spared a few in my travels is for the mere concept that destroying them all at once would leave me with nothing in the end. When I decided upon creating a martial arts tournament, I decided it was best to keep the Earth's unharmed until they all witnessed my true power. I do understand to the fullest extent that they already knew that I'm capable of immense possibilities, however, the more fear I can strike into them, the more I'll enjoy watching them crumble beneath my fingertips.

It was going perfectly, too. I had everyone where I wanted them; they waited for the day to arrive, the day my enemies would attempt to stop me in a tournament, but victory would not be theirs. I will allow the humans and Saiyans alike—whoever challenged me—to have the moment in the spotlight, but once I've dug their grave far enough I'll end it. There will be no mercy.

Goku, though, is who I'm looking forward to engage in a fight. My creator's number one enemy, a man that is one of the two surviving members of an alien race known as the Saiyans, but a man who was raised here on Earth as a human. Though he's foolish, ignorant, and much too trusting of others, he's the most powerful being to exist under me. He is the one I desire to kill the most.

I gave them all ten days to prepare. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision when I was explaining to young Trunks, (a boy of mixed human and Saiyan blood), about the tournament, of which I dubbed the Cell Games. I thought it was a nice little title, naming it after myself of course. Ten days should be plenty of time for everyone who dared enter my ring to ready themselves for their demise. They could train, but in ten days very little could be accomplished where they'd have a fighting chance against me. I was confident and knew there was nothing holding me back.

I could already guess who would show up. The sad thing is none of them would pose much sport for me. Goku, maybe, but other than that I knew that no one was strong enough to do any serious harm. They may get lucky enough to land a punch or kick, maybe two if I'm generous, but otherwise I could care less who came. Goku's son would no doubt show himself, but the boy was only around ten years old according to my data—I knew that he had a little talent in the skills department, but nothing to even consider as a threat. Vegeta, the second surviving Saiyan, had already tried his luck against me, but I easily swatted him away. For a prince, he had nothing to offer. Trunks gave the same result; he may be stronger than his own father, Vegeta, but again, no challenge.

Irregardless, there were now eight days remaining and already I was overly bored. I made a few rounds, saw that people decided to head out of town instead of collecting in one spot to hope for their fate to be cancelled, and decided that I was better off ignoring the pathetic specimens I came across. Therefore, I returned to the arena I myself had constructed and waited for the day to arrive. One news team had attempted to gain an interview with me earlier in the day, but my disgust with their cowardly approach caused me to turn them away. Actually, I'll admit it was more like toss them away. I do hope they had a nice landing.

However, that afternoon after already having my fill of fun, I was advanced yet again. My eyes caught sight of the white vehicle approaching long before they could have seen me—a wonderful advantage over the common man. The last crew hadn't had the nerve to drive up this close; therefore I was a tad more interested to see how far this would go before these humans realized they made the wrong choice to come out here. I welcomed publicity during my games, but otherwise I wished to be left alone.

The van, a news vehicle of course, halted and I could easily sense there were three life forms inside. They were average men, but the glare from the sun blocked my view from seeing them completely while they remained inside their transportation unit. When the doors opened, I was mildly surprised to see a woman step out first. Two men followed, one holding large camera and I briefly wondered if it was already making a live broadcast.

The woman walked defiantly towards me. She was dressed in black and white fashionable attire, or so I assumed was the case since I wasn't, nor cared, to be educated on human clothing habits. She was made up to look pretty, that much I realized, but her appearance made no difference. The two men were like any others I had seen in the past and I thought of them to be her sidekicks more than her protectors.

She paused in her approach at the side of the ring and I took a quick moment to study her further. She was young and carried herself boldly, but the arrogance about her made me want to roll my eyes and pretend she wasn't there. I didn't have the patience to be bothered by a feminine flair, not to mention it wasn't appreciated by whoever decided to send her out here. If they thought they could create an encouragement, they were gladly mistaken.

I stared back at her as she looked up towards me. My face, as I'm sure proved to her, was unfaltering and uncaring at her presence. She, though, didn't seem to care. I sensed very little fear in her as she pulled herself up onto the tiled floor of my arena, her shoes making an annoying clanking sound with each step she took. I held back the smile that nearly forced its way out when she realized her friends weren't following her lead.

Her saunter was annoying and I held back the urge to kill her before I gave her a chance to think she could get what she wanted. The more I studied her, the more I realized she was fairly attractive for a human, but other than that I dwelled on the notion that she was much too daring.

"Good afternoon," she said holding up a microphone to my face. She wasn't all that tall; she could barely reach up without stretching to shove the contraption in my face. She tried though, I'll give her that. "I'm Layrial Adercon and I'd like to engage you in an exclusive interview."

Unfortunately, my gaze upon her didn't warn her enough. She continued with her nerve still very strong. "Well, let's start by asking why you decided to create a tournament on your own? And why way out here?"

I was growing tired of her mouth and her noble desire to get answers out of me. I closed my eyes and turned my head away, hoping that being a gentleman and kindly ignoring her instead of killing her would push her away. Of course it didn't though and my agitation grew to its peak.

"Excuse me, didn't you hear me? Are you deaf or something?" She asked, her voice filled with annoyance.

Annoyance that wasn't even comparable with the lack of tolerance I felt at that moment. "The stupidity amongst you humans is almost shocking," I said finally.

"Excuse me?" she replied and I could feel her ambition slipping slightly.

At the point of losing my temper, I looked back at her, my eyes piercing her flesh with invisible knives—a weapon I had no use for, mind you. "You're the second news crew to come out here in the same day," I replied harshly. "If I had wanted more publicity I would have sought it, but you people are insistent on doing things your way."

"Excuse me?" She pardoned again and I grew highly aware that her cover wasn't all that it seemed to be, as I expected.

My brow narrowed slightly and my head tilted further down towards her. Dull gray eyes stared back at me in curiosity and confusion, but I paid no attention to their need. "Is that all you're able to say now? It seems the big flashy reporter is losing her sudden nerve for an exclusive interview."

There—I had broken her barrier. Her attitude steamed forward and she put her hands on her hips, her waist bending her upper body slightly towards me with anger. "I'm fine, you jerk, so answer my questions!"

I turned towards her, my arms uncrossing, but I kept my stern expression pressed deeply in my face. "I think not," I replied. For one, I didn't appreciate being sworn at.

"Do you want to get paid or something? I'll call up my manager and he'll write you a check. Then maybe you can answer my questions." She couldn't just give up and accept her fate, could she?

Apparently not; she stood her ground and looked at me with a certain level of willingness to wait until she got what she wanted. "Ignorant fool," I said after a short moment; I raised my arm and pointed my finger at one of the men behind her—the younger of the two first. If she didn't want to give up and leave, then I'd make her see how very wrong she was for disturbing my peace and quiet.

I released a small amount of energy, transforming it into a simple ray of power and aimed for the now-running individual. I gave him a chance to have one last yell and then I shot him head on. A small puff of a dirt cloud formed from where the blast hit the target, but soon it dwindled way to allow the remaining two humans to see a charcoaled mark on the desert floor. The second man swore and dropped his camera in order to give him less weight as he ran for his life.

I allowed myself a very small grin at this image before lifting myself off the ground and flying effortlessly at the fleeing creature. Within half a second I was right behind him; he barely had an instant to scream in my face before I kicked him into the sky. A small chuckle escaped my throat and I tossed up a small ki blast at the man's soaring body.

Two down, one to go. The girl had fallen to the floor of the arena and she didn't move as I approached her. Her growing weakness clearly showed through when I noticed small tears jumping from her eyes—I couldn't help myself but laugh. She was so small, so insignificant that she didn't realize that she was the one who caused the commotion today. I would take pure delight in killing her, but what gave me a bigger thrill was that she now understood that she was going do die.


	2. Two's A Company

**Hmm:** This one was easier and a lot more amusing to write. I think I've gotten the hang of writing in Cell's mind! Anyway, that's my opinion ;) Chapter 3 is done, I'm starting chapter 4 tonight. I'll hopefully have them up sometime tomorrow :)Enjoy!

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**Chapter 2: **_Two's A Company_

My hand unconsciously settled on my hip as I continued walking towards my last victim. She moved backwards, her hands and feet barely able to move her body that was still half lying on the floor. I smirked, my amusement with her terrified appearance playing out gently in my mind.

Her mouth opened a little, but nothing came out but air at first. Then I heard the simple word, "Please," escape from her voice and I nearly broke into laughter.

"Please?" I repeated with a growing grin. "Are you asking me to spare you?" Her answer was a simple nod. I had met with the edge of the ring, but instead of immediately stepping up to it, I placed one foot atop its smooth surface and leaned my weight on one arm resting on my knee. "So what should I do with you?" I asked.

"You should let me go," she replied. She tried to get up, but I had inflicted far too much fear into her for her body to respond to her brain.

At this I let myself laugh out loud, my head tilting back towards the sky and a brisk chuckle bellowing from my lungs. "You must be joking," I told her. "You made the mistake of coming here, so you must deal with your fate."

She tried to talk, but her body was stiff and she couldn't get herself to do anything else besides stare at me with wide eyes. If I cared, I may have felt sorry for her. "I'm amazed at how frightened you are after you displayed such a strong character when you arrived," I said after stepping up onto the ring and finishing my walk towards her.

"Wouldn't you be if you were me?" She asked, her voice returning.

"I would have used my head and not come out here if I knew what would happen," I countered quickly.

"I didn't know anything about you! I was out of town until this morning!"

"Keep your tone normal, woman," I snapped. "Your attitude will only bring about your demise quicker."

"Then kill me already!" She yelled, but I didn't release my smirk. "You wasted no time murdering my friends, so why do you hesitate now?"

I looked down upon her as if she were a small insect. She really was quite lovely, but I had no use for her. She was amusing to verbally battle—I had never met a human with enough spunk to attempt such a task, but I could only take that for so long. In all, she'd wind up dead in the end regardless of how much she struck me. "I wanted to stare at that pretty face a little longer before I twisted it into nothing."

Her fear disappeared from her delicate face and was replaced by surprise and befuddlement. "You lie…" she said softly.

If there was one thing I took pride in, it was that I had never told a lie. Perhaps my intentions towards this planet weren't suitable for its inhabitants, but I was not a raging lunatic that flapped his mouth off with anything that came to mind. I chose my words and actions carefully before I put them into the open.

I wrapped my fingers around her neck and picked her up off the ground as if she weighed nothing—she was, in fact, extremely light and my arm didn't even flinch as I raised her so our faces were level. "I do not lie," I said with pure agitation. I squeezed slowly, allowing her to feel the pain fully before I choked her to her death.

She tried grabbing my wrist, as if to give herself more allowance as I closed her throat with my hand. "Please," she begged. I felt a sensation swelling inside of my chest and I focused on killing her. I _wanted_ her to beg for mercy…

I started to answer her, started to tell her to beg me to release her, but I felt a tremendous power behind me. As to not lose the thrill of seeing her die, I loosened my grip on her neck, but I made sure she understood she wasn't going anywhere just because we were interrupted. I sensed Goku's life energy and I turned slightly towards him.

"I see I'm just in time, Cell," the Saiyan replied.

"Ah, Goku, you're later than I figured you'd be, but I suppose that makes no difference now." I was a little surprised to see he was standing in his Super-Saiyan form, spiked blonde hair topping his small cranium; then again, Vegeta and Trunks had been the same way. I didn't know it was possible for them to maintain that level of power in every-day moments, but apparently I had been mistaken. It amused me, though since this was the first time I had the opportunity to meet Goku. I had heard so much about him, after all.

"Let her go, Cell," Goku warned me in a casual yet obviously forceful tone.

I snickered and blinked once. "Why? I don't think its any of your business what I do with her."

"As a matter of fact," he said, "I think it is. She's no concern of yours."

"It's her own fault she trespassed on my territory. She will receive whatever I give her." I made him aware that I wasn't just fooling around for my own amusement—I meant to kill her and teach the humans that I didn't take kindly to invasions, although my hand loosened a bit more from her neck.

"Right now your fight is with me, Cell. Don't kill her."

Did Goku honestly think that he could win so easily? He had no right to tell me what to do! However, I thought it over quickly. It sounded more as a challenge, though I knew he truly didn't want the girl to die. Perhaps I could use this situation to my advantage.

I allowed the girl to feel the ground beneath her feet again and her throat was released from my grasp. I chuckled very lightly to myself and closed my eyes for a short moment. "You intrigue me, Goku," I said finally. "I'll make a deal with you. If you fight me first on the day of my Cell Games, I'll allow this girl to live until then."

"What do you mean, 'until then'?" He asked me, his eyes growing slightly wider.

I barely shook my head. He was a slow-minded creature and wasn't up to much thinking, this I could see. He was a warrior—born to fight, and unfortunately nothing else. As for me, I was granted knowledge and strength, therefore I ultimately had the upper hand over this Super-Saiyan.

"Honestly, Goku, do you really think I wouldn't keep some sort of insurance?" I asked him. "I don't want you to go against our agreement and save yourself until last."

"I haven't agreed to anything yet," he replied.

I pulled the girl closer to me, my hand firmly digging into her arm. "Don't push me, Goku," I warned. "The girl's fate lies in your hands. If you find it unfair, I'll kill her right here, right now."

Apparently my little victim agreed with me, for she yelled at Goku to say yes to my offer. I smiled inwardly and kept her closer to make sure Goku understood I was dead serious. "I'm growing impatient, Goku," I said to further my persistence and make him agree before I decided to throw my offer out.

Goku looked steadily at me, his eyes unblinking and his fists clenched. "What will you with her in the meantime?" He asked.

"I'll keep her here until then," I answered. "I don't want to be bothered with trying to find her later. Besides, if I let her go, wouldn't that mean you won overall and what we agreed to was a pointless conversation? No, Goku. She'll stay here until the day of the Cell Games. Then, and only then, will I decide what to do with her."

The girl looked at me, the loose strands of her hair flinging about her face as she did so. "What! I thought you said you'd let me go!" To shut her up I tightened my fingers around her puny arm.

Goku finally nodded and eased up to me. "I'll fight you first in the ring, Cell," he said. "But you must promise to do no harm to her until then."

I wasted no time in letting the girl go and letting my arm fall back to my side. "Agreed."

I frowned and clenched my teeth when I heard the girl burst out. "No! You can't just think of me as some animal or prize! You can't leave me out here with him! Please! Take me with you!" Honestly, why did I agree to do her no harm? Ripping her tongue out would've been the least I could do…

"You'll be safe here," Goku told her and I let out a short, harsh breath. What an idiot, that man was.

His gaze remained on me, though and I cocked my head ever-so-slightly. "I look forward to our encounter, Goku," I admitted.

"Me too," he said with a slight nod and a sharp grin. And then he disappeared before my eyes. I had never seen this sort of trick and I was curious to know how he did it. I'm sure I'd learn soon enough, though.

There was no point in addressing the human any more than I had to, so I walked to my given spot in the center of my arena and allow myself to ignore her presence. I caught sight of her looking towards the vehicle her and her little friends used to get out this far from whichever city they journeyed from—did she think she had a chance to escape?

Unfortunately, I soon learned that I had made a mistake in allowing her to live. She called out saying, "Hey you!" in hopes to gain my attention. I paid her none and remained quite still, my back to her and my eyes closed to block out the sunlight. I was highly aware, though, that she was moving behind me. It would be like babysitting, I concluded, because now she was attempting to run away.

I heard a slight cling of a small piece of metal, and I took a guess that she was taking hold of that camera the other man had dropped in his escape attempt. What she figured she could do with it, I don't know. It had to be broken enough where she couldn't send out a distress message, though it wouldn't matter if she tried. Whoever appeared to save her would die in the blink of an eye.

Well, she tried. She began to run, but when I turned my head to glance over my shoulder I noticed that she was doing so with a bruised limb. She limped along at what I considered a slow speed, but she eventually made it to the van she sought. I wouldn't be bothered chasing down a moving vehicle, however, as if I were a law enforcement officer the humans had scattered everywhere. My speed allowed me to appear directly behind the girl before she had a chance to try opening the door of the van.

I stared at her extremely frightened face in the glass of the door's window, but I was a bit surprised to see her act against me. She swung the camera she held and tossed it against my shoulder. Naturally she hadn't a chance to even leave a scratch on my firm body, but I admired her enough for trying.

"Trying to escape?" I asked as she backed up against the fiberglass frame of the van. "Did you think I didn't know?"

"H-how…did…you…" She started, but was much to scared to make any more logical words than that.

I smiled at her and crossed my arms over my chest. An honest answer was in order, but I'm sure she'd have trouble comprehending it. "Simple. I have explicit hearing and I could feel your pitiful life force moving. I knew where you were the whole time."

"You're pulling my leg," she said very softly.

My eyes narrowed and I looked at her sternly. "Oh I assure you I'm not," I replied. To emphasize my point that I was more than what she thought, I kicked the van easily with my foot as if it were a mere toy.

"I suggest you not try something so fool hardy again," I said. "It's been your lucky day to live, but Goku's threat doesn't bother me—I have no shame in killing you."

"But…but that means you'll have lied!"

"Perhaps," I acknowledged, my eyes averting away from her small form. "So lets not find out if I actually would end up lying—it wouldn't be very good manners, now would it?" I turned to leave, but paused long enough to give her one piece of advice. "Also, if I were you I'd not leave the area of my arena, understand?"

"Why?" She questioned, unsure of my statement.

"Because it may provoke me," I said in a deeper-than-usual voice. I flicked a smile across my face and hovered easily back to my spot on the tiled floor. I was certain now that this girl understood just who she was dealing with.


	3. Superiority Reigns

**Nothing Much to Say:** I thank those of you that reviewed very much—you guys make me smile :) This is actually coming along quite quickly, but I'm assuming it's because I have the plot done and laid out for me already. I'll have chapter 4 up later tonight or tomorrow sometime, perhaps. Until then, enjoy this.

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**Chapter 3: **_Superiority Reigns_

I'm quite aware of how much I scared the girl—it was rather amusing to be able to knock someone off their ladder after they thought they were on top of things, much like she thought when she arrived to interview me. What these humans hoped to gain honestly confused me. What would they ask? There were the questions I had already heard—where did I come from? Why did I pick Earth to host the Cell Games? Why did I create the tournament at all?

It was all pointless nonsense that wouldn't benefit their chances of winning. They didn't need to know my history, though I was getting tired of them referring to me as if I were an alien from an unknown galaxy. Perhaps my appearance was an altered version of a human being; however the assumptions they made sickened me. It was rude and I would refuse to answer even the mildest of questions, such as how tall I was since I was much taller than the common man.

My thoughts lingered on this topic for much longer than I would have liked. I will boldly make the conjecture that it was because that little human girl was in my presence. She had finally made it back to the ring side, but her manner was much more timid and unsure compared to previous attitude. I smiled inwardly to myself, though she would have no idea what was on my mind, especially since I displayed my backside to her. I will boast that I may not have the best self-control when it comes to ignoring something or someone (I eventually get aggravated, this I will admit to), but I didn't want my mind to find the urge to look at her. I had seen enough of her to last me a life time. Not to mention she didn't deserve my gaze.

"Cell?"

My arms tightened from their relaxed criss-crossed position over my chest when I heard my name being uttered from her meek voice. I wanted to be rid of her at that very moment, but it would prove that I was a liar, as she pointed out.

"Cell, could I at least ask you a question?

To pass the time of waiting for my tournament, perhaps I needed a challenge to contend with. Allowing this girl to live longer than another few hours would certainly be something to strive for. A game then, I decided. I will see how long I can hold out before I lose my temper. Let her do her very best to anger me, to annoy me and to push me to the point where she will just have to plain die.

"I suppose so," I finally answered. I refused to turn to her, however. There was a long bout of silence that made me finally give in to my resistance. I turned my head and stared at her forcefully. "Well?" I asked to get it out of her.

"How much longer is it until your tournament starts?" She asked; her delayed response may have been out of surprise that I acknowledged her. Whether that is it or not, it didn't make any difference.

Such a miserable question though. Easy as it was, it wasn't worth the effort to answer her. However, it was a decent question on her part since it didn't post any of those speculations I had made already. "Eight days," I answered. I looked at the way her face became utterly surprised at the moment the words rolled off my tongue. "Why?"

"Well, in case you didn't know, there's nothing out here to get food from, so how do you expect us to survive that long?"

Her tone had been mild, but I picked up her sarcasm. It was a necessity for humans to eat and drink, as she tried to bring up, but little did she know I had no need for such survival needs. My design allowed me to live anywhere no matter what the circumstances of the environment were.

I smiled and looked at her as if I knew a grand secret she did not. I saw her contempt starting to show through her soft face the moment I spoke. "I have no need for food like you humans do," I explained shortly.

"Say what?" She asked as if she didn't believe me. Humans seemed to have a great deal of trouble grasping anything out of the ordinary—ordinary according to them, of course.

"I said I don't need the nourishment your kind requires. Standing out here for days will take nothing out of me except, perhaps my patience—although I'll be bold enough to say even those are capable of lasting for quite some time."

She looked a little confused; she stared at me with a blank expression as she obviously tried rolling over the knowledge I just gave her in her head. Then she perked up and her eyes focused on my own. "What do you mean that we humans need stuff? I mean, aren't you—"

"No," I said, automatically stopping her forming question. I knew what she was getting at and it was time to set everything straight in her mind. Perhaps it'll knock some sense into her and make her realize she's not dealing with one of her kind. "I am an android," I told her.

She kept her gaze on me as if to find another answer to her question. "That's impossible—you're too perfect to be an android."

"That I am," I said with a smile. Finally, she said something with truth in it; though I'm sure she had no idea what it meant to say 'perfect.' "I am perfect; I'm so glad you realized this without me telling you."

"I'm not following…" she said and immediately I lost the hope that she was smarter than the average human.

"No, I suppose I shouldn't expect you to," I replied with an unnoticeable sigh. "You see, I am an android made up of living cells taken from the greatest fighters this planet has ever seen. Each was constructed to unite and form what you see before you."

She seemed a bit confused, but I continued nonetheless: "My creator, Dr. Gero, created me for the sole purpose of extracting his revenge on this planet and after two long decades of absorbing the necessary bio-extract and searching inexorably for the two lower-form androids I had to absorb to achieve my perfect form, the time has come for me to bring about his dream. I am his ultimate creation. I have no flaws."

She stared at me for a few moments, taking in everything once again. Then, her next comment nearly made my cool composure break and force me put on my own look of surprise. "Is that why your name's Cell?"

Oddly enough it brought a chuckle to my throat and I closed my eyes for a brief moment to take this in. "You really are a senseless girl, aren't you?" I replied all the while giving her a look of superiority.

"I beg your pardon!" She exclaimed, though it made me smile a little wider.

"You heard me right," I said. "If you had any sort of wisdom you would've been able to put two and two together."

I had caught her so easily and she tried so very hard to recover. "Well, that's not what I meant to say anyway."

"Oh really?" I replied with great interest. This was becoming rather amusing. Seeing her cringe under my pressuring gaze and her mind being reduced to rubble as I easily shot down everything she let lose from her mouth gave me an odd sort of accomplishment. "Then what was it you wanted to know?"

She looked around searching for a question she apparently hadn't thought of up to this point. I had caught her and now she couldn't figure out how to escape the trap. She looked up, trying not to catch my eyes. "This revenge or yours…what does it entail?"

"You've already met Goku," I replied. "I must destroy him and his little friends he calls the Z Fighters. Then, once I've accomplished that—and take note it shouldn't be too hard—I will destroy this worthless planet and move on to the next."

"Bullshit," she replied quickly and my eyes narrowed immediately.

"What?" I replied with sudden irritation, though I tried to keep my temper clear.

"I said bullshit," she repeated.

"I heard the vile word you spoke," I spat back. "What do you mean by it?"

"You can't destroy the planet—it's impossible without some sort of bomb and as far as I know there's nothing that can technically just wipe out the entire planet and erase it from the galaxy."

"That is where you are wrong," I corrected quickly. "Let me demonstrate." Without even thinking twice on how to show her that she was inexcusably mistaking, I hung out my arm to my side and held my palm facing the desert horizon. Without putting more than a fracture of energy forward, I let out a small ki blast that had enough strength to destroy the small mountain form that was straight to my left. It exploded and the girl shielded her eyes, my ears picking up a small whimper from her mouth.

Once she chanced a peek, I let my arm return to its folded position with the other and I asked her a simple question: "Still doubt me?"

"No," was all she could say and she let it be. She situated herself on the floor, her arms circling around her legs and pulling them closer to her bosom.

She was an amusing creature that much was fact. I saw that although she was afraid of me, there was still a certain amount of courage she tried to display. Once she learned that I wasn't what she expected—I was much more—she quickly accepted her fate as if I had taken away every right known to mankind.

There was something, though, that I found myself wondering. Now that I had had a basic conversation with her, though she was still much weaker and lower than me, I decided that it was enough to know one tidbit of information about her.

"What is your name girl?" I asked finally, deciding just to surrender to my curiosity.

"What?" She said with surprise.

"I asked you your name."

"Why?"

"Are you incapable of answering the question?"

"No," she said with defeat. "Layrial."

"Well then, Layrial," I replied. "We have accomplished something."

"What? We now had introductions?" she asked dryly.

"Beyond that," I replied and let my voice push forward a bit of husky danger. "You now know who you're dealing with."


	4. Losing Control

**Me** **Little Note: **I'm very glad that this story is so appealing to everyone. It is rather fun to write. Honestly, I wrote up until the middle of chapter seven (though the chapters here are no longer consistent with the original story's). I don't know when I'll be able to post it all—chapter 5 is quite long and I'm avoiding reading through it XD But it'll be up during the weekend, for sure.

Now…to reply to some reviews :)

**Akaida-Felinjin: **Oh yes, he is like…the king of snobbery. I see Cell's inner character as that of an aristocrat who thinks very highly of himself and no one is above him, or if someone else they have to prove themselves first. And yes, you're right on target—he gets it from Vegeta and Frieza. Lucky him ;)

**Aquasage: **Most definitely; remember that Cell has a hard enough time grasping the concept that Gohan—a ten year old boy—can kick his butt in the end, but up until then he believes, and _knows_ that he's the top guy in the world. However, though Cell is a powerful warrior and he could take anybody down, the mere idea of a human trying to talk down to him or challenging him isn't acceptable. Like I told Akaida-Felinjin above, I think of Cell as aristocratic in nature; if a servant talked back to a king, most likely that king would kill the servant because of their differences in status. He threatens her because he doesn't truly understand human nature, as Layrial has told him several times in the stories. And you're right—she knows how to talk because that's what she's used to, especially being a reporter—she knows how to get what she wants. But right now, Cell doesn't know what to think. I'll say that yes, he finds her attractive _for a human_ (although he'd know nothing else…) but him thinking of a human to be pretty or whatever goes against his "upbringing" so-to-speak. He just a very confused android ;)

**Thomas Drovin: **Ah yes, I've decided to go through with it ;) I have thought about whether or not I'd be willing to take on the task of rewriting all the stories in Cell's view, but unless I'm extremely bored and run out of ideas for any other possible fanfic, DBZ or otherwise, I think it'll just be this one. The other two stories aren't bad, but there's a lot that I'd have to honestly bullshit because there's not as much of Layrial-Cell togetherness? (I lost the word I wanted…ugh) in the other two. This one works because they're always going at it. We'll see though; anything's possible, right?

**SkaraClayne: **Ah, a name I don't remember seeing previously :) Welcome! Thank you very, very much for your input. I agree though—many fics that have been previous written dwell on Cell being a pure gentleman and forget that he's "programmed" to behave the way he does…though as we know with Android 18, its possible to pull away from that. I'm trying, though :) I hope I don't disappoint you!

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**Chapter 4: **_Losing Control_

The rest of the day was rather quiet and peaceful. I pondered for a short moment whether or not to thank the girl…Layrial…for keeping her mouth shut so I could meditate in peace. I was able to clear my mind of all the annoying occurrences of the day and I must say it was needed. I did wonder, though, what could possibly be going through that girl's head for so long. She was quiet, yes, but naturally she would be thinking about something. Could it be that she was wishing she weren't in her current situation? Or perhaps it was speculation on what I could do to her now that she witnessed a little bit more of my power.

The answer wouldn't be given of course. I had no intentions of asking her; in fact, I had no intentions of speaking to her again unless I was forced to. And naturally I had to eat my own words because I heard her squirming behind me. I kept my eyes closed and my head bowed in the position I held for nearly two hours or more, but I could tell she was getting to her feet.

Ever so slowly the girl made her way closer until she was only a few feet away. I could feel her nerves shudder at the short distance she held to me, but I gave her credit enough for making any efforts to approach me. She did have spunk that I'll admit.

Finally, though, I grew tired of waiting for her to make a move. "What do you want?" I asked mildly.

I seemed to spark her back to life for I could tell she jumped ever so slightly. "I was just wondering….Would you permit me to go to that van you kicked away so I can get some food?"

I let myself look at her timid expression, my head tilting enough so I could see her properly. "If you wish it; far be it from me to keep you from doing so."

I could see the look of astonishment hit her immediately. I wasn't much into laughing at her this time, so I merely returned myself to my peaceful state I had been in. Honestly, I could care less where she went now. There was no chance she'd be able to get very far on foot—she was foolish if she even thought to try. As for the vehicle, since it now lay on its side it was of little use to her. She could go to it if she wanted, she could even spend the rest of her time in it for all I cared, but she wouldn't be going anywhere.

She did leave though. I nearly expected her to just give up and sit back down since nightfall was approaching and soon she'd be finding herself out by a useless automobile with no form of protection. A smirk came to my face, though, when I gave into the urge to look at her retreating form. She hobbled like a crippled animal, her leg looking as if it was putting her in a lot of pain. The ambition and determination, though, surprised me. I didn't think humans would put themselves through something so painful; though if hunger was worse, I suppose I could see the reasons behind it.

The day itself was nearly wasted because of the humans repeatedly interrupting me. I need something to do—something that would let me stretch my muscles even if for a few minutes. There was one thing I could think of that wouldn't disturb the peace; I wouldn't want Goku to get angry with me, now would I?

I laughed softly to myself with the thought and took off into the twilight. I didn't travel at my highest speed, but I dare say it was faster than most others that could fly would be able to reach. Within seconds I was breaking through the Earth's atmosphere, a blanket of flames surrounding my body as I did so. My ki kept my body out of any potential harm, though I welcomed the intense heat that enveloped me.

Space was a magnificent place. Quiet, untouched, but certainly not innocent. It had seen everything that had ever happened and it held the universe's secrets. Other life forms had no idea I existed, but one day I shall use this endless space for the travel to new planets that will meet the same fate as Earth.

I believe I must've headed out a good fifty miles or more before I met with asteroids floating mindlessly along. I kicked and punched whichever I came across, the large rocks shattering into millions of miniscule pieces. Twisting around, I made a double kick and evenly split one large rock cleanly in half. Using both hands and very minute power, I disintegrated both halves with a simple ki blast.

Then something caught my sight from the corners of my eyes. I glanced over my shoulder, my mouth widening with a deadly smile as a mother rock slowly made its way towards me, as if challenging me to take it on. The size of it was twenty times the size of my own body, but that made no difference. I turned to it and outstretched one arm, letting the rough side of the rock tap against my fingertips.

Glancing over my shoulder at the blue planet behind me, I wondered if I should bother giving the humans something to rave about. "Perhaps those miserable humans would appreciate a little light show," I said to myself. The decision was made and I focused my eyes on the asteroid. A slice of ki shot through it, causing the monster-rock to explode before my eyes. I used my energy to hurl the much smaller chunks towards the Earth and within moments they burst into flames as they entered the small planet.

There's only so much one can do in space. I finished off the asteroid field until only microscopic flakes remained; next came simple, random exercises, but that only grabbed my attention for so long. Eventually I decided to finish it off and head back down to the boring little planet I was forced to call home for the time being. I took a trip around the world, letting myself take in the different climate zones, landscape designs and so forth, but unfortunately I had no interest in lingering to study it further.

By the time I returned to my arena the sun had begun to rise. The human girl had curled herself into a ball in one of the corners and she slept soundly, but I could tell that she hadn't purposely allowed herself to sleep like that. She must have been up for hours looking around for predators until finally she gave into her fatigue. I let out a sigh and folded my arms, my eyes watching her sleep for at least another hour. What it was about her that caught my interest I hadn't quite figured out yet. Was it her fortitude; her will to stay alive? I couldn't lay a finger on it and it was starting to bother me. I was usually quick with puzzles, but this one…this one had gotten me.

Eventually, though, she stirred and sat up. I could tell she was still in a great deal of pain, but it was her own fault for doing what she did last night—it obviously only made matters worse. She turned to me, though, and her face showed signs of pure despise.

Her eyes narrowed at me and her upper lip curled slightly with a loathing expression. "Where the hell did you go last night?" She asked hatefully.

I stared at her openly. "I don't think that's any of your business."

"You don't, huh?" She asked as she placed both hands on her hips, though she remained sitting on the floor. I do hope she wasn't trying to intimidate me. "Well I think it is, Mr. Android. I was scared shitless when I got back and you weren't here."

I smiled at her. "I know," I said and immediately I saw the anger grow in her.

"You're sick," she muttered and threw off the blanket she apparently found in that van of hers. I watched her curiously as she pulled out whatever little contraption held up her hair; dark blue locks fell across her shoulders and I suddenly found myself becoming aware that she was rather…

No, I wouldn't let myself start thinking of her other than a poor, wrecked girl that has nowhere to go and no one to save her. So, I did what any other person would do in my position. I threw her some sarcasm. "I take it you slept well?"

She shot me a look and I tried not to show my pleased smile. "Shove it," she snapped and my urge to smile disappeared. "I had a horrible night's sleep and that means I'm in a bad mood."

Silently grunting to myself I turned away. "Forgive me if I'm not trembling in fear."

She was quiet after that and I heard her rummaging through the bit of supplies she brought back with her. The small sounds of her movement danced in my head and it started to drive me mad. Everywhere around here was quiet or didn't disturb me, but she managed to break the silence and my solitude. After some time, I heard her struggle to get to her feet and started to walk towards me.

Since my back hadn't been completely turned to her, I was able to crane my neck to watch her gimp over to where I stood. I became amused and wondered what antics she'd try this time.

"I've got a bone to pick with you," she said, trying oh-so-very-hard to display some sort of boldness, though I'd have to say she wasn't doing a very good job.

"Really?" I asked, throwing out the curiosity in my voice just to anger her more.

"Really," she repeated. "I want you to know that what you're doing to me is cruel, not to mention unhealthy and there's no possible way I can survive beyond today without food and at the most a shower!"

I had already taken note to what she had brought here and I found that several bottles of water lay scattered next to her makeshift campground. "You have plenty of water to keep yourself alive," I said.

Her face cringed with hatred. "Why you unimaginable, heartless bastard…"

Now, she had pushed her luck over the edge. I would not be spoken to in that way! Before I even completely thought through what I'd do to punish her for the…vulgarity, my arm swung out and I effortlessly tossed her across the ring. She skidded to a halt on her side, and once she stopped I noticed the indent in her arm—I had broken it. She screamed out, attempted to move, but didn't dare inflict more pain on herself.

I walked over to her, my anger being held back by the knowledge that I was to keep her alive until the tournament. My mouth formed a horrible frown and I stared at her with the greatest contempt. "I will not be insulted by you again, do you understand?"

She didn't look at me, but rather kept her eyes tightly closed. "Please…please just kill me." I stood there, trying hard not to just grant her wish as I would have in any other situation. If it weren't for the agreement I made with that stupid Saiyan, I'd toss her across the desert so I didn't have to see her anymore. "I beg you," she continued, "don't let me live through this."

Yesterday she had begged me to spare her life. Today, she wanted to die. "Why in the world do you want to die?" I asked. She was starting to make no sense at all.

She looked at me, her eyes sad and looking at me with…hope? "Look what you're doing to me. I can't even move now."

Naturally; now perhaps you know not to push me. I looked her over quickly and took in what damage I may have done. "You've only suffered a broken arm, maybe a rib if anything more. You're lucky that's all I did to you."

"Damn you," she said as she returned her face to cringing in pain.

"Say anything more," I warned her, "and I'll break a leg too."

Having her lying there broken and useless would only make things worse. I'd be forced to hear her cries of pain, her begging me to end her life, and my own thoughts of learning that I couldn't control myself to keep her in one living piece until the tournament. I knew what would fix her immediately, and I'm sure I'd have no problems getting what I wanted. I turned from her and started moving away. My ears picked up her questioning of where it was I was going, but I didn't answer. Instead, I flew away without giving her a second glance.


	5. Let's Try This Again

**Hey, Yo: **After three stories, now the fourth, I'm running out of little things to say here before I give my usual note. Anyway, like I said before, this chapter is long—6 pages on Microsoft word without double spaces between the paragraphs like this website creates. You'll have a blast with it. And for an added bonus, I'm giving you chapter 6 as well. :) I have a fairly busy weekend ahead of me, so that may be it until Sunday or Monday. Though I'm sure I'll find the chance to continue writing—I always do.

Ciao for now—enjoy!

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**Chapter 5: **_Let's Try This Again_

I had no idea where the Z fighters resided, but it was easy enough to seek them out. I figured Goku wouldn't be with the others—I took him as more of the type to train alone. Those others, however, would flock together during their last days of life. I picked up the life force of Trunks powering up and I headed towards that direction.

Soon I came upon something rather odd and unexpected. Though I was several miles from the ground I came to a large, sculptured pole rising steadily into the sky. I looked down to see nothing below me, but looking up revealed an oddly shaped structure. I turned up and made my way towards it, realizing that Piccolo and a few others were there besides the young half-blooded Saiyan.

However, when I came to the structure I had seen first (there had been two, the larger being further up still) I saw none of whom I knew to be there. Instead, though, I found a little chubby man nestled on the floor drinking some sort of liquid. I threw on my charming composure and hovered in a standing position next to the wooden railing.

It took the little man a few moments, but he finally realized he wasn't alone. His eyes flew open and the cup he held dropped to the floor. He pulled out sword from a sheath he had laid across his lap and jumped to his feet.

"YOU!" He yelled out and backed away, though he kept the sword pointed towards me, both hands that held it shaking terribly. "What do you want?" He asked in a shaky voice.

I chuckled lightly and took it upon myself to rest my feet on the floor of the structure. I walked towards him, knowing darn well he was scared of me to the point where he might even jump over the edge. "I'm assuming you have relations with the beings above you," I said. "Do you know anything about Senzu Beans?"

"What's going on?" Another voice said and to my complete surprise a very short, white cat emerged from around a corner. "Cell?" He gasped and dropped his walking stick.

Raising an eyebrow at this creature, I addressed him instead. "I was just asking you friend here if he knew anything of Senzu Beans. Perhaps you can answer my question."

"What do you want them for?" The cat asked.

"Korin, call for the others!" The fat one replied.

"I wouldn't bother," I warned. "You'll have no trouble if you give me what I want." I knew now that they did understand what I spoke of, otherwise the cat wouldn't have asked me what he did.

"I'm not giving you anything," the cat told me.

"I only want one," I said to him, my nerves starting to get riled up. "I shall leave you be the moment you give me one."

"It's a trick!" said the fat man. "He doesn't look like he needs one! He'll put it aside so he can use it during his tournament!"

"I assure you," I said through nearly clenched teeth, "I will do nothing of the sort."

They were both silent for several moments, but I saw the cat considering it. Finally, he walked away and headed over to a table where a small cloth bag sat near a bowl of fruit. He opened it and pulled out a single green bean.

Like a good cat, he came over to me and placed it in my hand. "Thank you kindly," I replied and left it at that. Before turning completely away I noticed that Piccolo and Trunks were descending from above, but I didn't give them the chance to confront me. I felt the sigh of relief from both my hosts as I leapt off the side of the structure and flew back towards my arena.

The girl hadn't moved more than an inch during my absence. I landed next to her, my shadow covering her body and making her look up at me with surprise at first, but it quickly turned into the same expression I had left her with. I held out my hand, my fingers holding the bean between them. "Here," I said and held it out.

"What is it?" She asked after studying if for a second.

"It's called a Senzu bean," I told her briefly. "It'll restore your health."

"Do you think…" but she stopped herself in mid-sentence. If I went to the trouble of getting this and she refused, I'd shove it down her little throat.

"You can either take it from me or lie there and suffer for the next seven days," I said with frustration. "Either way it doesn't matter to me. You're no use to me anyway."

Finally she took it and popped it in her mouth. Her eyes lit up and she quickly pushed herself to sit in an upright position. Backing away from where she sat a few inches, she looked at me with a bit of confusion strung over her dirty face. "Why?" she asked—a question I wished she hadn't.

"My temper had taken over before I could gain self-control. I had no intentions of hurting you until you verbally abused me."

She nearly smiled. "You mean I bruised your ego?"

"But of course," I replied miserably. "I don't appreciate lower life forms talking back to me." There—I had struck a nerve in her once again. I enjoyed this far too much.

"Lower life forms?" She asked, catching my description of humans.

"Yes," I replied. "You're a mere human with no physical strength what-so-ever. I, on the other hand, am not only stronger than anyone on this planet, if not the universe, but my mind capacity can stretch much further in the wake of knowledge than yours."

"Oh ho," She exclaimed and brought herself to her feet. "I disagree with that statement." With that, I glared at her. What could she possibly say to try to challenge the truth of my statement? I dared to say this would be interesting. "I'll admit you've got the strength part beaten compared to me, but I know a hell of a lot more than you do, buster."

"I doubt it."

"I graduated from high school in the top fifty in my class and for college I had a 3.5 GPA. Top that. I bet you didn't even go to school."

"I'll give you that," I said, but added the smuggest grin I could knowingly muster. "I didn't go to school, however levels mean nothing to me. Had you graduated as the valedictorian from both levels of education then maybe, just maybe, you might've caught my attention. However, you had not."

She merely stared at me in utter confusion.

"Furthermore, my design enabled me with not only the fighting techniques I require to be the best, but also any trace of useful knowledge that would help me succeed in any quest I take upon myself. Your schooling is worthless, for the most part, and a good grade doesn't necessarily mean you learned anything in the time you spent sitting behind a desk."

She had become completely silent. Her eyes looked away, searching the floor for perhaps a comeback, but she knew that there was nothing she could say to fight me. Therefore, I remained silent; there was no need to further pursue the conversation since I had obviously come out victorious with the argument. The girl hadn't the slightest hope of defeating me with any alternate means to physical battle.

After a few moments passed, the human girl decided to return to her little corner, though she opted to sit with her back to me. I turned away as well, though she was still in my line of site. Yet again I found myself wishing I hadn't given the people of Earth so long to prepare for my Cell Games. Ten days was far too long and it was boring me to near tears, even though I didn't have the capability or the weakness to cry if I could.

I heard slight movement from the girl's direction and I decided that the silence wasn't as golden as the old saying stated. I was bored. I needed something to do. There was no one to fight, nothing to destroy unless I picked a random city to blow up, but even then I'd find myself in the same position I now stood in once I had made that accomplishment. The last resource had to be taken…

I inclined my head towards the girl, the rest of my body remaining still. "You've been very quiet," I stated.

She looked at me, unsure of how to take my sudden silence-breaking words. "So?" she asked finally, her eyes quickly sweeping over me.

I snickered; I wondered how long it'd take to make her frustrated enough to try something rash. "Ah, so you are still with me. I thought maybe you had lost it completely."

"Shut up," she spat and turned away.

It seemed to be working. "Are you mad at me?" I asked.

"Excuse me?"

I hated having to repeat myself, but I didn't let that show through this time around. "Are you mad at me?"

"Mad? No, I'm not mad—I'm royally pissed off. I'm starving, tired and bored out of my skull."

"Pity," I said and felt the anger grow in her steadily.

"Stop asking me what my problem is if that's all you're going to say. Thanks for that bean, but why did you even bother? I'm still in pain."

"Impossible—that bean has the capability of restoring health in a person within an inch of death," I told her. "You're perfectly fine."

"Fine physically with the exception of hunger, Cell, but I'm not one to sit around and do nothing for days on end! I don't know how you do it."

"I focus my mind and meditate."

"Good for you," she said and then paused briefly; "do you want a damn prize for that?"

Her words echoed in my head—no one had ever talked to me like that before and I wasn't about to let them start now. She had a lot of nerve to think she had the privilege of talking to me without me giving her reason to open her silly little mouth. But…I had to keep myself in check. I remembered my own little reason for starting with her again and it wasn't to get myself mad.

"What?" She asked when I had approached her; I kept my posture tall and stiff, and I made sure she knew that she wasn't on good terms with me.

"What do I need to do to get you stop complaining?" I asked her. It was a very reasonable question—arguing with me was one thing, but constantly complaining about her well-being was quite another.

"Huh?" She said in near disbelief.

I stared at her hard and somehow, without knowing it made her keep eye contact. "I'm tired of you telling me how cruel I'm being to you, when all I've done is let you sit here in your own misery."

"That's not cruel?"

"It could be so much worse, my dear Layrial," I told her. Up until now, the only time I called her by her proper name was when she had told me it. It chimed in my head after I let it run forth and I saw from the look on her face that it caught her attention. "I give up," I pretended to admit. "What do you want?"

"Let me go," she said without much delay.

I shook my head. "No—that's not possible."

"Sure it is," she said in a chipper voice, as if to coax me into giving in. She got to her feet, but stood on the ground, making me all that much taller than her. "All you have to do is bring me to a city and I'll be on my way. It's that simple. I won't even go to the police, how's that?"

Not only was her entire idea absurd after she knew she was my prisoner until the tournament, but the mentioning of the crime-fighting men struck me as near-hilarious. I couldn't help but let out a full-fledged laugh, my voice probably echoing through her ears.

"What's so funny?" She demanded.

I forced myself to calm down; though I'm sure I could've inappropriately carried on a bit further. I looked at her unwavering expression and regained my composure. "Do you really believe a mere police force can stop me? My dear, I can destroy this planet with a snap of my fingers—an army has no power over me."

"Well…" It seemed she wasn't quite sure how to go on. I had been giving her chances to throw things at me, but every time I've swatted them down without a second thought. I did enjoy harassing her.

"Go ahead," I said smoothly. "All you have to do is ask; just don't bother thinking you'll have a chance to escape me. I've actually grown fond of your company—it delights me in knowing I have the power to stand and do nothing and still keep you under wraps all at the same time."

"Jerk," she barely uttered under her breath. "I need to get out of here."

"I already told you no."

"No, I mean that's what you can do—get me away from here for a bit. Look, I feel like I've been playing in dirt for days, I'm absolutely starving, and a change of clothes would make things a lot more comfortable."

I should've already known that she would still try to find a way to get back to civilization. Her request sat in my head and I pulled it apart from both sides. Half of me wanted nothing more but to continue to let her suffer in her current position, but…I knew that the logical side of me would, in the end, win out. She would need some sort of food eventually and if I didn't satisfy her needs now she may be all that more unbearable by week's end. Then again…there was that horrible chance she would expect more acts of kindness. I now take back what I said—I wasn't fond of her company. I don't know what urged me to say that in the first place; I still wanted to kill her.

"Very well," I said and let my arms fall to my sides in preparation. "What is it you need most?"

"A shower and food," she said as if on command.

I nearly let out a growl of my dissatisfaction that I would have to touch her in means other than holding her neck and squeezing the life out of her. I would have to create a lot of willpower not to do that as I brought her to where she wanted to go.

"What are you doing?" She asked when she saw me step towards her.

"How you expect to get there?" I questioned. "I dare say you're not capable of flying yourself."

"Yeah…but…"

I sighed and took another forceful step forward until my left foot was on the edge of the ringside. "Bite your tongue and let me do the work, human."

I took the final steps to her and lifted her up, using one arm around her slim waist to do so. She was light, as I had already asserted from before, but it was strange to be carrying someone as I flew into the sky. Immediately, though, she clung to me, her arms wrapping tightly around my neck and her face nearly brushing against mine.

"Put me down!" She yelled out practically at the top of her lungs.

Her voice shot through my ear and forced me to jerk my head away. I could still hear her words ringing as I gave her a hard stare. "I hold your fate in my arm as we speak. You don't want me to let go, now do you?"

Her arms tightened even more and it became uncomfortable for several reasons, one being that she was far closer than she had to be. "I'm deathly afraid of heights, you idiot!" She yelled.

As if I hadn't known that from the moment she clung to me like a briar to fur. "If you don't look down there won't be a problem," I told her truthfully.

"What am I supposed to look at? You?"

Her question brought a very small, insignificant smile to my face, but I tried to ignore it; I'm sure she did as well. Whatever went through her head for the rest of our little trip was beyond me. She remained quiet, thankfully, and I didn't have to say anything either.

As planned, I set foot down in the town of my choice—a town I knew right away would keep her out of trouble and keep me from having to do any pointless tasks. She backed away from me and looked around, and though she wasn't facing me, I knew she wore a look of utter discontentment and misunderstanding.

"Cell, what the hell is this?" she asked. "'Cause it sure isn't Eastern City!"

I crossed my arms over my chest and gave her what I figured was a look of pleasure since I had not only puzzled her, but I know that she wasn't comfortable with the quiet that surrounded us. "You never said anything about Eastern City; you merely requested food and a shower. What better place than this where you can go anywhere you want and not have to worry about others getting in your way?"

Her mouth opened slightly, but nothing came out except air. She looked around a little more, and without glancing at me, asked, "Just where are we?"

"Nikki Town," I replied simply.

She turned around, her eyes shut and her face full of disgust. "You need to take me somewhere else."

"If I take you anywhere it'll be back to my arena," I said. "Do what you must before I get tired of standing here waiting."

"There's no way I'm going into any building where someone died!" She shouted. "What do you think this is? You murdered all these people, Cell! How can you even think about letting me pick up something that…that…"

"You're losing your train of thought," I told her and she became silent. "You should just go do your thing before you say something you'll regret."

"I regret you sparing my life," was the last thing she said before she turned and walked down the street.


	6. Anger and Deniable Defeat

**Chapter 6: **_Anger and Deniable Defeat_

The girl walked around for a while and finally disappeared into a building, where she spent roughly a good twenty minutes doing whatever inside. I stood perfectly still, my eyes fixed on the street ahead of me, my mind thinking of how degrading this was—I was basically serving a human woman's needs. It was utterly ridiculous and I promised myself that somehow I'd make her pay for putting me through this. This, also being subject to standing in the middle of a street while two stray cats wondered over to me. The small creatures let out several noises, sniffed my feet, one even being so bold as to rub its filthy body against my leg. A mild flick of energy, though, was enough to shoo them away.

The girl soon emerged from that building and then hurried across the street and a bit further down until she disappeared once again. I'm assuming she would do what she needed and then would return to me. I figured by this point she wouldn't try to run away—if she did, I would torture her until she realized who was the boss of this operation.

I lost count after half an hour past on how long she had been gone. I had the urge to close my eyes and allow myself to slip into deep thought, but I snapped myself out of it and kept my focus on the deserted town. I remembered this street very well. It had been one of the first places I stepped foot on after escaping the larva stage I had been trapped in since coming to this time period.

I had to admit this time period, the past, was much more entertaining than the future from which I came from—my true home. When I had been spotted on the streets in the cities from the future I wasn't screamed at because they had never seen something such as me before, but instead saw me as yet another threat to their species. The other androids, 17 and 18, had already poured down endless terror and suffering and any survivors hoped to get rid of me since they could do nothing against those two brats.

The past, however, was much different. The screams and cries for help were much more satisfying. I was the one they feared, not because I was yet another android. They were unfamiliar with me and the moment they saw my cat-like eyes staring back at them they turned white as a ghost. It was most gratifying and I enjoyed every second from each one I absorbed.

Although my time roaming this town and absorbing every last human down to the small _innocent_ children was enjoyable, my current form was much more agreeable. Though I wasn't ashamed of my appearance in my previous three forms, I had to say that I liked this body much more. I had Android 18 to thank for that—she was a lovely young girl and she boosted my physique much more than her twin, 17, had. Absorbing them were the best moments of my life.

And then there was the moment I met…_her. _The human girl was returning from her little gallivanting trip around the town. She looked much cleaner, thankfully, and she had opted for a change of clothes, and I'd say that though she wasn't dressed to the hilt, as I'm assuming she would've been considered by her kind with her previous attire, she was still…pleasing to the eye.

"Are you finally done?" I asked her when she was finally within her own earshot.

"Yeah I'm done," she said dryly.

"Then lets go," I said and picked her up in the same format I had earlier. She said nothing on the journey back and I'm thankful for it. I was no longer in the mood to talk to her—the moment we returned to the arena I'd set her down and pretend she didn't exist.

I followed through on my words. She returned to her little corner, I to my place in the center of the floor. I crossed my arms over my chest, the position of choice, and closed my eyes in concentration….

My eyes jumped open and I looked straight ahead of me. I had regrettably dozed off, for how long I didn't know. Sleep wasn't a necessity, but being as bored as I was my body obviously had nothing better to do. I had far too much energy I wanted to exploit and nothing to exploit it on. How annoying.

I turned slightly and looked over towards her. She sat there silently, her arms wrapped around her knees and her head lying on top of them. She looked quiet and content and it baffled me.

"What are you thinking this time?" I had to ask.

"I don't know," was her reply and she pretended to ignore me.

I turned completely and took a few steps closer to her. Why did she have this capability of pulling me into her circle, somehow daring me to look at her, talk to her…_consider_ her? "Something's on your mind. What is it?" I asked.

"None of your beeswax," she said.

"A childish answer," I told her.

"Says who?"

"Says I," I said. "You're acting strangely."

"I'm acting like I'm bored and tired."

This was starting to get to me. I didn't know what to do with her and yet I still found myself forcing my body and brain to search for ways to engage her in conversation. There was nothing special about her—she was nothing than an attractive woman….

No. I will refuse to let that phrase enter my thoughts again.

"What are _you_ thinking?"

My eyes snapped back at her and I looked at her for an answer. Quickly my mind worked out words to form exactly the sort of reply she deserved. "I'm thinking what it would be like to be as weak as a human such as you."

I had smiled and let my eyes close, though my head tilted down as if to look at the floor. Unfortunately, I had to rewind my actions the moment I heard her ask, quite rudely, "What the hell is your problem?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"I asked what the hell your problem was," she repeated. "Why do you have the need to say stuff like that? You're the one who's causing all the problems around here!"

She was getting under my skin again and she knew it. She knew it and therefore stood up to show me she didn't care what she said to me. This is what she was aiming for. It wasn't a game for me; it was a game for her. She knew she would eventually die so she let this play through, knowing that I was supposed to keep a promise. My fists had automatically tightened and I could feel the energy pulsating through my veins.

However, I managed to calm myself down. I had closed my eyes again, hoping that by not looking at her I wouldn't be as angry. "My dear girl, you think you're really brave, don't you?"

"Fuck you."

The bubble popped. My eyes wanted to burn her as they shot a deathly cold stare into her face, my throat trying hard not to let out a growl, but the ultimate sign of my anger was when I thoughtlessly grabbed her neck and pushed her against the cone-shaped pillar that stood in the corner of the arena. I raised her up off her feet, but…

Her gray eyes looked at me with a horrible fear that began leaking tears. Her hands slowly came up and rested on my wrist, but my hand cut off enough air where she didn't have the willpower to fight against me.

"You claim I'm vulgar and rude, however you come out with dirtier statements," I said as calmly as I could. "Do you think your words affect me? Do you honestly think I feel anything by what you say to me?"

She looked at me, her mouth opening and a very faint "yes" seeping through. I don't know what it was that caused me to put her down…perhaps it was her face. Perhaps it was the answer she gave me…an answer I didn't expect her to say. An answer I wanted not to be true though in the very far depths of my mind…something told me it was.

"What?" I asked as she realized her life was still in her grasp, though my hand still held her throat, but not nearly as threateningly as it had been seconds ago.

"Answer me!" I demanded and shoved her against the pillar again. I didn't clench my fist in attempts to suffocate her, but I knew I had used enough force to knock what little breath she had left out of her. "I demand you answer me."

"Why?"

She was still playing her game though I could easily pull her life out of her at this very moment! What did she expect to gain from fighting against me like this? Why did she do this to me! "Because I said so, that's why!" I snapped, and yet she still remained silent and didn't even attempt to give me what I wanted. "I swear, Layrial, you better give me an answer or I'll end it right here."

"Then end it," she said mildly and I could feel my teeth clamping together tightly. "What's stopping you?"

I was trying very hard not to let my hand give in, though I was losing my control over my actions. I could feel her neck tightening again as my fingers curled around it tighter, but I forced myself to stop. "My patience is growing thin, girl."

"You're mad at me because you don't know what the hell to do, is that it? I tell you to go fuck off and you immediately become angry because someone was bold enough to say it to your face."

"Is that what you think?" I asked. It wasn't true. A human couldn't do this to me.

"No, Cell, that's what I know."

I let her go. I didn't step away, but I let her go. The blood in my hand raced around now that it nothing to do but circulate normally again. She stood there, looking at me, but the fear was gone from her face. But I…had let her go and I didn't move like I was ashamed of what I did…and that most certainly was not true.

"And to answer your previous question, yeah, I think you are bothered by me telling you stuff like that," she said. She had no idea when to quite. "You're ego is so damn big it hurts when someone touches it with a pinprick. You think you're so damn tough—whether physically or mentally—but when someone challenges that and almost catches you off guard, you can't handle it!"

I refused to falter. My fingers curled into my palms until they couldn't curl anymore; my nails had begun to dig into my skin and I anticipated my blood to run free at any moment.

"Furthermore," she continued, "what hurts most is that it's all coming from a weak, stupid human _girl_ as you pointed out to me so many times."

She said no more. I looked at her, trying very, very hard to keep myself in composed. "Are you finished?" She said nothing still. "I'll take your silence as a yes. Now, let me set you straight. You mean nothing to me. What you say only angers me because you've yet to learn your place. I am a perfect being and nothing you can possibly come up with can change that."

"Hold on," she said and I was forced to hold my thoughts. "You're not perfect."

"What?" She had no right to start this…

"You heard me. You heard me better than I heard myself. And right now you're trying very hard to figure out those three words: You're, not, perfect."

"And what makes you possibly believe—" I started.

"Stop," she interrupted. "You're starting to be really predictable. You're not perfect because of that. You're not perfect because you can't understand the human mind, such as why I am the way I am around you. And you're especially not perfect because, regardless of what you had told me earlier about yourself, you're not complete. You lack all emotion other than anger."

For the first time in my life…I had no idea what to say. I was stuck, in checkmate and I didn't know where to go from here. I could not allow her to defeat me…there was no way it was possible.


	7. Reconciliation

**Surprise: **Well, I decided to catch up with posting completely. This was the last chapter I had completed to this point (actually, I haven't started 8 as of now) and figured aw, heck, let them have it. Actually, handing this one out leaves less of a cliff hanger—although those of you who are trying to remember what will happen next can just go and read the original story. I believe this chapter coincides with chapter 9 on the original? I'm not sure—I forgot since this morning ;) Anyway, that's it from me. Enjoy your weekend!

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**Chapter 7: **_Reconciliation_

I couldn't bring myself to say anything to her. Her last statement kept repeating itself over and over through my head and I couldn't understand why. I was complete—I had absorbed the humans I needed to gain enough strength to absorb Android 17. And then I was able to get 18. I was in my final form…my perfect form. I was the ultimate being, the best thing to ever walk the Earth. _I had no flaws_.

Yet…this pitiful little girl claimed I wasn't complete or perfect. She said I lacked…emotion. What the hell would I, Cell, need something so useless as that? Though after thinking of my own thoughts going through my head, if I asked myself why I would need it made her allegations possible….Preposterous.

"What, cat got your tongue?"

I focused my sight on her again since I had somehow blacked her out of the images in front of me.

"Well I'm not going to stand around until you decide to break out of your coma," she said and started to move away.

My arm instinctively jumped out and pulled her right back into the corner. I searched her for some sort of answer to my questions so I didn't have to ask her myself. But it seemed I was doomed to let her know that she had gotten me on this one. "I want you to explain to me why you believe I have no emotion."

"What the hell for?" she asked rudely.

"I want an explanation for your accusations," I said. "You say I have no emotion other than anger. Why say such a thing?"

"Because it's true; you don't have any emotion. The only thing on your mind is yourself. Everyone else around you either doesn't exist or you care nothing for them other than a good time if you take their lives."

"You are mistaken."

"No I'm not. Don't you start that 'I'm so perfect' thing again. If that's the only thing you can go on about, then what I've just said is true—you care for nothing but yourself."

"And what if I said I cared for you?" Why did I just say that? What in _Hell_ pushed me to let that out? I hadn't even been thinking it and somehow, from somewhere it shot through my mouth before I had a chance to think it over carefully.

"You don't care about me."

"What makes you think that?" I said, trying to recover from my mistake.

"No, what makes _you think_ that Cell?"

She was starting to pull me out of this odd trance I had found myself in. "I'm growing tired of you answering my questions with ones of your own, but very well. I've allowed you to live, haven't I? My amusement with you has grown to the point I want to get as much out of you as I possibly can. I care to see what makes such an average woman tick." What I had said was unlike me…I cared nothing about how a human woman ticked; not to mention the way I stated it was horrible. Thankfully, though, she didn't notice that end of it.

"That's a bunch of bullshit," she said with a slight laugh and I was inclined to agree with her. "It doesn't even make any sense! That's not how you should care for someone."

"I brought you to Nikki Town and allowed you to eat and bathe—that's care enough for me."

"Then obviously you were never 'programmed' with the emotions you claim you have. Caring for someone means you love them and want to protect them. It means that you'll do anything for them no matter what the consequences."

"This love thing you speak of is nonsense," I said truthfully. The word made me sick. "It's what makes people weak and vulnerable, which makes me all that more powerful."

"Which means you have no emotion," she finished. I let her walk away this time, and I remained in that position for several long moments after.

She had relocated herself as far away from me as the ring's size allowed. I returned myself to the center, as usual, and thought of how she claimed I was predictable. I took offense to that statement, but I let that lead to the result that she knew and understood nothing. I _was_ the perfect being and no one could tell me otherwise. Foolish human girl…

However, in the very far distance I noticed a mass of objects moving towards my general direction—things in the air and on the ground. I squinted my eyes, focusing them to closely take in what was approaching. A smile curled on my lips the moment I realized that it was an army.

The closer the machines drew the louder they became, naturally, and eventually the girl woke up and jumped to her feet. Her eyes were wide, but I laughed at her as she jumped around, waving her arms and yelling hopelessly at aircrafts flying overhead to turn around and go back.

"Maybe they're here to rescue you," I said with a slight snigger.

"Shut up," she said and turned away to watch the mass of vehicles and more aircrafts swarm the area. I glanced up at one what I believe was called a helicopter by human terms, hovering in one spot with two men leaning out. _Ah, they brought the media,_ I thought. _How nice. _

I looked around for the best place to relocate. Obviously these men were armed with many devices aimed at me and the last thing I wanted was destruction to what I considered my property.

"Look, all these men still playing with toys," I said out loud to myself. "Time to move, darling," I told her. I triggered a questioning glance from her, which is what I had aimed for, but she had no time to reply to me. I picked her up with both my arms and flew towards a plateau a few miles away. As I expected, the military turned and followed.

"What, are you scared they might get you?" She asked when I put her down.

"Please," I said. "I just don't want those idiots to ruin my ring."

She looked out towards the mobilized men coming towards us. "Cell, they're going to try to kill us!"

"I'm not worried," I said. If she thought these men could actually inflict even a fracture of damage, she needed to remember my little display I gave her earlier in our acquaintance.

"Maybe you're not, but I am! I can't survive an attack!"

I heard several clicks from the machines and soon missiles were flying towards us. I smirked lightly when the girl fell to the ground as if to protect herself. I had the urge to tell her she need not worry, but it would be a waste of breath. Instead, I simply applied my energy into a protective barrier that encircled both of us. The launches of whatever weapons those men threw disintegrated before they could even touch my barrier, since I was projecting enough heat to trigger them to detonate. One question, though, entered my mind as I patiently waited for the pointless attacks to stop. Did they not care that this girl was here? Of course they thought that all their military strength would take me down, but since I took her with me it would destroy her as well. This only solidified my thoughts on just how selfish humans were. One life meant nothing to them if they could save themselves. They were so very weak. No wonder why Dr. Gero created me.

I was able to multitask (something I hadn't been given much of an opportunity to do until now) when the plateau beneath us fell away. Easily enough I was able to suspend the girl from falling, all the while containing the barrier. Then finally, the men below gave up. The girl looked around as the dust started to dissipate. "I suggest you sit still for a moment," I told her.

Without a second thought of how to punish these men for their stupidity, I raised my arm back and gathered a decent amount of energy. A small smile creeping to my face, I gave the military one last glance before I whirled my arm around, sending a ki wave strong enough to remove nearly all traces of their existence, however leaving the landscape in tact.

The dust cleared fairly quickly this time and I looked around quite satisfactorily. It was all too easy; but I wasn't going to gloat about it up here. I grabbed the girl's arm and pulled her to stand up, but the creature fell up against me, her arms hugging my waist. A strange sensation flew through me and I was momentarily blinded by her accidental embrace that lingered for far too long.

I returned her…safely…to the ground where she looked around in horrified shock. I saw this as an easy exercise that would enforce my terror on the people of Earth—they shouldn't doubt me again.

"How could you…" she started.

"How could I what? Kill all those men? Easily," I explained. "No weapon in the human world is enough to even inflict a paper cut on me. Pathetic fools."

"You just killed all of them right before my eyes…"

"So I did," I said with a smile. "Aren't you proud that you witnessed my power and didn't have to be a part of the devastation? Oh, and wouldn't it count as a form of protection since I didn't let them harm you?"

"Is that what this is all about? Protecting me?" I noticed the silly display of water filling her eyes. "You're the pathetic fool—they had no power over you! Yet you still killed them unmercifully."

"If I hadn't they would've tried attacking to get to you," I retorted with a bit of frustration showing through. She was being far too selfish and disrespectful in my presence after I _kindly_ saved her life. Did it not occur to her that they attacked me regardless of the fact that she was here too?

"And I wish they had!" She shouted. "At least I would've known I might've had a chance to get away from you!"

Out of nowhere, though, she took off. She turned on her heel and stomped her way back towards the arena…but then she broke into a run in a completely different direction. I was a bit surprised, honestly, which was probably why I remained still and watched her. She had totally lost her mind and tried running away from me.

The foolish girl didn't have a chance—she wasn't physically fit enough to get very far. She must have known this, but yet she still forced herself to go further and further. When it finally hit me, after a few moments passed and she was nearly an eighth of a mile away I went after her. A split second later I blocked her path.

Surprisingly enough though, she changed her direction and continued. I blocked her a second time and again she turned away. Unfortunately for her, though, she tripped over something and nearly felt flat on her face. This gave me enough time to not only block her, but catch her as she regained her footing. My hands clasped onto her shoulders, but she wasn't about to give up. Her fists came storming up and pounded relentlessly on my chest. I could feel a slight prickle from her attack, but she didn't seem to care that I felt nothing.

"You stupid, android," she blurted out and I knew that she was completely lost from the sanity she held before. And though she continued with her attempts to hit me I couldn't bring myself to stop her, to yell back at her or even get angry with her. My hands still held her firmly, but I decided to let her wear out—it was the best form of defeat.

"Let me go!" She yelled out. "Just let me go!"

I could barely understand anything else she said through her endless sobs, but as I figured she started to weaken. The burst of adrenaline was dwindling quickly and my hands automatically loosened so she could drop to her knees. I made no tilt of my head, but I looked down at her until she finally gave up and just sat still.

Her energy level reduced to practically nothing—she had exhausted herself in her attempts to rid any future dealings with me. Seeing her sitting helplessly at my feet, though, urged me to do something other than kick her away. I thought about it, yes, but something in the back of my mind kept me from acting out in this way. That same something in my head somehow willed me to bend down and pick her up; her head bobbed for a moment and then lay against my chest as I walked back to my arena. And all the while I argued with myself on how very wrong this had become. I had no idea what was happening to me…but whatever it was I didn't like it.


	8. Something Old, Something New

**An Author's Humble Apologies: **Forgive me, my dear readers, for the intense delay. Some of you already know that I've been extremely busy, but besides that I haven't had much ambition to touch this or anything else. That, and my computer died and I had to reload windows…and since that's a pain in the butt, I've kept myself away from this machine unless it was to talk to people. Please note, though, that it is the end of the semester and I have several papers and of course, final exams to study for, so nothing's in the clear until after mid-May. I shall do my best to keep this rolling since all of you have been so very patient with me.

As always, I do encourage reviews! They make me happy :) hehe. I'll be going away for the weekend, so I can't promise that there will be an update before next week. Until then, though, please enjoy.

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**Chapter 8: **_Something Old, Something New_

It wasn't long before she regained her consciousness; I had settled her down on the cold tiles of the arena and lowered myself to her level. Flicking off the cap to one of her bottles of water I pried her mouth open just enough to allow the fluid to trickle down her throat. The desert was hot and fairly dry, and after such a display of adrenaline she was no doubt dehydrated. Ever so slowly I felt the energy start to regain strength in her; gray eyes slowly opened to meet my own.

And then without any sort of warning the last bits of water that her mouth took in came hurling back out. My hand jumped away—I didn't need anything she spit back up to land on me; that's highly disgusting. I stayed put, however, and waited for some sort of reaction after she realized I wasn't her man in shining armor.

Of course—she would pretend I wasn't there. She moved away and hugged her limbs into a tight ball, her head facing away from me so she and I couldn't make eye contact. Leaving the remaining water stranded next to her, I moved away and simply kept my gaze fastened on her position.

Finally, though, I grew tired of waiting for her to give me any sort of reaction beyond ignoring my presence. "A bit of thanks would be appreciated," I commented dryly. When she didn't answer I felt something tighten in my chest and my arms grew tense. "Don't start any of your games with me, Layrial."

When she still refused to verbally answer me I decided upon pushing her into moving that little tongue of hers. I moved closer—close enough for my leg to gently push her so she couldn't keep herself "protectively" curled into a little ball. She moved, her head coming towards me, but I saw her eyes steady on the floor. It annoyed me to no end—did she actually think I'd give up and go away if she ignored me?

I had an answer for her—this behavior merely forced me to pursue what I wanted, and that was for her to give me some sort of comment, even if it was as useless as the sky is blue. "Why will you not speak to me?" I asked. "Are you trying to provoke me?"

I hoped that forcing questions upon her would make her realize I wasn't playing games with her; I was in no mood and if she didn't accept that she'd learn to do so within short time.

So what was her answer? She returned her body into that little ball once again. It infuriated me to the point I wanted to slap her clear across the universe—and I would've too if it weren't for the fact that I had made an agreement with not only that stupid, idiotic Saiyan, but with myself as well.

I took a deep, but very silent breath. She was trying very hard to push me into a state of mind where I'd be forced to break my vow. "Don't make me use force, Layrial," I said letting my voice become soft and more easy upon uttering her name. And then I surprised myself with my near-unconscious follow-up sentence: "I don't want to hurt you…"

I gripped my mind quickly to remind myself just who I was—I cared not for sparing the life of a single organism. If I had…I wouldn't…be standing here right now waiting to destroy the world. Then something occurred to me; I was waiting, wasn't I? Why had I given these stupid humans and Saiyans alike time to prepare? Yes, I wanted them to be ready so they could offer me some sort of challenge, but I wasn't an android gifted with patience, this I was very much aware of.

"You already have…"

My ears picked up her short words and I felt that pull inside of me loosen completely. Her words were soft and resentful, but also… depressed? She continued not to look at me and I came to the conclusion that perhaps it was because I was so forceful with her that gave her the reason to pretend I didn't exist. I had thrown her down in the physical and mental sense, and I already knew from my knowledge of the human race that their minds weren't capable of handling such a downfall.

I sighed quietly and nodded in agreement to myself. "I know I have," I replied. "But you're giving me reason to continue."

"No I'm not," came the response almost immediately. "You're allowing yourself to act like that."

I granted my fists the chance to tighten. She was trying to use reverse psychology to lure me into a trap she had been setting up the moment she collapsed to the desert floor.

"Stand up," I told her. When she didn't answer or comply, I made my demand again, hopefully being a bit clearer.

"No," she said and remained still.

I would not tolerate this any more. My patience had shredded and she was pushing me into doing something I had tried to keep myself from doing. I kicked her aside again, this time knowing that I probably bruised her, but she just lay there. My foot came up and made her lay on her back and I rested it on her chest, applying just a tiny bit of pressure. "Do not tell me no," I told her with a small bit of hatred capturing my words. "I could crush you right now."

"Then do it and get it over with." She looked at me without much expression on her face, but I did notice that she didn't seem to care what happened to her now. It confused me to see her act this way after she practically had begged for mercy upon our first meeting.

"Why are you so eager to die? You were afraid of the thought only a few days ago."

"Because I hate all of this." There, she had finally broken out of her shell.

"All of what?" I questioned, though I had a suspicion at what she'd tell me.

"This—this desert, this arena…and I especially hate you."

It was then I realized that I had moved down the wrong path. She was very much serious with her response and for some, probably very stupid and inexcusable reason it bothered me to hear her tell me she hated me. Of course it was alright if I hated her—I was basically taught to do so because it was my destiny to destroy her kind, but she wasn't supposed to _hate_ me in return.

I moved away and turned my back to her, allowing myself to let her words repeat several more times in my head. I did hear her continue, though, as if she thought she had the upper hand. "What, did I hurt your feelings?"

Stupid human…. "My intentions were never to have you hate me," I admitted truthfully. "Fear me, perhaps, but never hate."

"Excuse me? Are you saying you feel bad because I said I hated you? Well guess what? Its one-hundred percent true! You're a complete jerk! And you deserve whatever bad thing hits you!"

"Shut your mouth," I said with a harsh glare sent in her direction. "I think I've been pretty fair to you."

"You call death threats fair?" She laughed and it unnerved me. "Wow…you really are pitiful."

I felt my face flinch in hopes of getting myself to raise the temperature of my near-uncontrollable temper, but I kept it in check. I kept my eyes focused on her and for the first time in my life, more so than the timid attempts to allow my brain to strain in understanding what she was all about, I saw something that made me want to act other than…killing her. I had completely lost my mind.

I had a thought…a playful, (but rather unethical in my terms of upbringing), attempt to discover something very new that had presented itself to me. I had her standing, approaching me instead of the vise-versa, and she was very much settled into thinking she had everything in the world dangling over my head right now, especially the trivial notion of guilt.

"Is there any way I could persuade you otherwise?" I asked allowing my mouth to crack a very small and what I hoped to be a seductive smile, though I wasn't sure how to go about that without thinking of it.

"What, not to hate you?" she asked. "Not a chance buddy."

When she crossed her arms and stood defiantly behind me I became very much aware that there was another emotion that I had never touched upon, but it was a part of me. There was something about her attitude—the way she found the courage to stand up to me and to challenge me, and the way she stood there in simple human clothes that hugged her figure rather nicely.

"There's nothing?" I pushed, that smile creeping out onto my lips more as I turned to approach her.

She took an unsteady step back, but stood up straighter to try to show she was not afraid. "No," she repeated. "There's nothing—not even giving me freedom would change my mind."

She continued to back away with each step I took and I felt the fear starting to rise. Finally I had found a way to get through to her without breaking the small, slightly-insignificant promise I had made when this had all started. She reached the edge of the ring and it was her choice at what to do now.

Surprisingly she spoke, though her attempts to change the subject wouldn't work. "Where did you go the other night?"

"Pardon?" I asked as if I hadn't realized what she was trying to do.

"Where did you take off to when you left me here alone all bloody night?" She demanded firmly.

"I went into space to train for a while," I said simply.

"Well then why don't you go back into space and throw yourself into the sun."

I nearly laughed with her chancing to anger me—I saw now that she'd rather deal with my angry side than what I was presenting right now. Nevertheless, I was unaltered. "Your insults won't work; especially when I know you don't mean them."

"Screw you," she nearly spat. "I mean everything I say to you."

"Then I want you to tell me exactly what went through your head when this moment is over," I told her. In fact, I was tempted to have myself answer the very same question because this entire idea was beyond ludicrous.

I closed the distance between us, but it forced her to try to escape off the ring. Before she could do so I placed my arm around her and pressed the front of our bodies tightly together. She became extremely tense and it delighted me to no end.

My other hand, discovering it had a will of its own, placed itself on the side of her head. "What are you thinking right now?" I asked softly.

"That you're crazy…"

Before she could say anything more, I took that instance to perform something I never thought I'd even mildly consider—I kissed her. My mouth was pressed up against hers and I was aware of a swelling desire sweeping through my body, from head to foot. It was the most remarkable thing I had felt outside of gaining my own physical power after absorbing Androids 17 and 18. She was stiff and made no move, but our eyes were locked as tightly as our lips were.

Finally, though, I forced myself to give up. I released her and took a step back, my eyes searching for an answer before the question was asked.

"Well, Layrial, what are you thinking now?"


	9. Frustrated Soul

**AN: **I realize I'm starting to get lazy, but right now I don't feel well and I don't want to have this sitting here. I want to be able to just go onto the next chapter when I'm ready without having to touch this one. So, be forewarned—this is not corrected. I think it's the first time I'm not bothering to do so; forgive any mistakes you may find. The chapter stands as I wanted it to, so anything wrong is mere grammatical or typos, the latter being the more obvious case.

Please review…I miss the notes :(

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**Chapter 9:** _Frustrated Soul_

I waited for her answer for what seemed like an eternity. She stood there, dumbfounded, completely struck into a never-ending daze. I could tell by her blank expression that I had done exactly what I wanted—I made an impression on her. Unfortunately what sort of impression that was remained to be answered. Either what, however, I could tell that she wasn't sure whether or not to scream and run or to just curl up into her little ball at my feet and pretend I'd just go away.

Finally, however, I couldn't wait any longer. I continued my smooth, flawless composure as I watched her eyes widen ever-so slightly; obviously a shocking or unwanted thought entered her mind; perhaps both.

"I'm waiting for your answer," I said softly; however I made sure that my voice was low and masculine for the full extent of torturing her pitiful soul.

She wouldn't look at me, but her mouth opened to release a few words that sealed her fate: "Who said there is one?"

It brought a smile to my face to know that this was all she could muster for a response to my question. I could tell with not only the words, but the way she rejected eye contact and said it immediately after I reminded her that I had indeed addressed her. "Then I'm assuming, since you're denying it, that you do have some sort of thought for me other than an android who killed your friends," I said.

At that point she stepped off the ring and tried to keep herself from losing control over her emotions. She backed away a few steps and then finally looked at my face, though I can tell it wasn't directly in the eye. "No Cell, you're wrong," is what she told me. "You have nothing over me. And you never will. If you think a display of that type of physical communication is enough to persuade me to think otherwise of you, then you need to go do some research on the human mind."

She turned and started to move away a little bit further, but to my surprise she stopped and wrapped her arms as far around her body as she possibly could stretch. I heard a faint sob leaking from her throat and her face stared directly at the ground. The behavior of human women confused me more than I'd like to admit.

However, something inside of my brain told me how to handle this situation. I needn't be forceful with her…the key was to confuse her more and bring her down until she crashes to the ground with no way out. Then, she'll have no other choice but to turn to me for comfort and then, she will be mine…

I approached her steadily and once behind her rested my hands on her shoulders, barely applying pressure or curling my fingers to take a firm hold. She looked up with a tear-stained face and it sickened me to see her display such sorrowful actions. She may have tried to present a tough exterior, but inside she was weak and highly vulnerable.

"Layrial, perhaps you should know that you've caught my interest beyond the fact that you're a human," I said kindly…as kind as I could force myself to get. "And I think I've caught yours; you just haven't discovered it yet."

"Stop it," she said and flung her arm out as she pulled away from me. "Don't talk to me—don't even look at me! I don't want to have anything to do with you, you…you inhuman freak!"

Her words were bold and above a normal tone, but she remained calm. Without a much of a chance to catch a good glimpse of her facial expression she turned away from me once again and I was forced to stare at her backside.

After a short moment passed, I gave up. I wasn't going to let this force me into anger or rage of the sort just because I didn't get my way like I anticipated. I had miscalculated somewhere along the way and the results were her to continue to push me away. The chance of figuring her out further, not to mention why I wanted to be near her so badly, would stop here and I would never touch upon it again.

"Very well," I replied and instantly brought myself back to my normal stance in the center of my arena. I faced away from her, making sure even if my eyes did find the will to open they wouldn't find her right away. I had enough willpower to keep my mind off of her…all I needed to do was focus and remind myself that I was about to destroy this sorry planet in a few days.

Then…I felt her presence growing nearer. She was either just returning to her little spot in the corner or—yes, that's exactly what she was doing. She was trying to come back to me, to perhaps apologize for her wrongs.

I wouldn't have it; I was finished with her and these stupid, human emotions that tried so hard to play out on my superior mind. "I suggest you keep your distance, Layrial," I told her.

"Why?" She asked shortly after.

I sighed, but resisted the temptation to look at her. "I think you've done enough damage for one day."

"How the hell have I done damage? I think you're the one who's tried to kill me several times!"

"I have never attempted to kill you."

"Oh no? What do you call that time when that other guy showed up? Or when you tried choking me a second time? Or when you had your foot prepared to crush my chest?"

I stood corrected and nearly humiliated because of it. She wasn't easy to argue with, that was for sure. "That was a bad statement on my part."

"You're damn right."

"But you've found several opportunities to bring down the level of my self-esteem, haven't you?" In a way I wished I could go back and reform that sentence; it was poor in quality and wasn't exactly truthful. My self-esteem was in tact more than hers was, however I felt rejected and shunned by her attitude—not something I was used to in this context…though this was the first time said context was brought up. However, I wouldn't let it rest there. I'd make sure she understood that this was all her doing…

"Furthermore," I continued…

…But she stopped me with complete outrage. "I give up already! I'm sorry, okay? SORRY!"

That was the final straw. I could feel my blood begin to boil and my nerves tangling up within themselves. It took everything within my mental power to keep myself from shoving her into the bowels of hell where she'd have no hopes of returning. My only resort was to rid myself of her presence, at least for now…and I would take out my anger on something else; something I'd enjoy far more than killing just her.

I leapt into the air, but before I had gotten more than a few meters away she shouted towards me, asking where I was going.

"I have other things to tend to. Leave if you will—it doesn't matter to me," I replied and picked up speed before she could let one more word slip through her fair lips.

My speed wasn't the fastest I was capable of, but it was enough to tear up the soft earth I flew over. The ground splintered and shook; trees and bushes fell into the crevice formed by the slice I had created with my energy alone. I cared not to look back—this sort of damage was trivial. I raced towards the nearest city I could find. Although upon arrival I was mildly disappointed that it wasn't as big as I thought. I had hoped to return to Eastern City and destroy what I hadn't touched during my first visit…though it didn't matter. It was still populated with _innocent_ humans and I was bound to destroy them all.

I stood on top of a small building and allowed my energy to cause a large gust of wind to sweep over the wondering figures below. They all stopped, looked around and finally realized where the source of the unnatural wind came from. Many pointed, most screamed and they all started to run.

I held out my hand, my fingers stretching as far as they could possibly stretch and I focused every bit of anger I had towards Layrial into that single shot. The screams of terror and pain rang pleasantly in my ears as I watched the cement, structures and mammals of all types deteriorate before my very eyes.

With that done, and a large crater decorating that side of this city, I moved to the next centralized location so I could repeat the process until all was gone and all was quiet beneath me.


	10. The Last Chance

**Note: **Sorry its been a while since the last update again, but I do feel better. AND this chapter has been edited, so we're good to go. I'm delivering 3 chapters right now, but depending on how the day goes, I might get another out by the end of the night or tomorrow...we'll see. We're getting close to the end of the story, so hopefully I can finish it up and give it out to you. And summer vacation is fast approaching, so hopefully I'll have more time to write and possibly work on that 4th installment I mentioned a while ago. Ciao for now!

PS...Please review people:)

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**Chapter 10: **_The Last Chance_

I spent the entire night destroying cities, ruining natural landscapes and murdering thousands upon thousands of people. I hit every continent, destroyed whatever I came up to and thought nothing of it. I had even gone to the artic to pull out the largest ice burg I could find and toss it into space. And yet…as I traveled back towards the brightening horizon I did not feel better.

In fact, I felt worse. Usually taking out my anger on the so-called innocent people of the world made my anger disappear, made me realize that I need not be angry because I was perfect and more powerful than anyone else on this planet. However, this time I hadn't come to that realization. I knew it to be true—there was no mistake in that—but the satisfaction wasn't there. All that lingered in the back of my mind was _her_. That little human with her dark blue hair and incisive gray eyes…the face I couldn't seem to get enough of, the attitude I silently hoped to unleash because she was the only one I enjoyed talking to.

She wasn't my equal, by no means; but the way she presented herself caught me. Of course I hadn't seen it when she first arrived, shoving that stupid contraption in my face in hopes to get me to answer her lousy questions. No…it came sometime after I tried choking her…the first time. I wasn't one to believe in fate, a small concept that many thought ruled the world, but it almost seemed that Goku showing up and asking her to live was meant to happen. Was I supposed to keep her alive and to test just how far a human's will could go?

Or was I doomed to suffer with a weakness I hadn't thought possible?

I don't know what had come over me. I'll admit it to only myself that I could possibly be physically attracted to her. I don't know how such a thing was even considerable because I'm sure Dr. Gero had no intentions of me finding someone to _bond_ with. Then again, the answer was much to clear; Goku, the second most powerful being in the universe (after me of course) had found a woman and produced a child. Vegeta, prince of the Saiyan race, had done the same. Since both of their cells were a part of me…then perhaps it was something that could happen to me.

But I cared nothing for her—absolutely nothing. She was disposable and that was fact. Killing her would solve all my problems. But if that was the case…then why hadn't I done it yet? What was it that kept me from killing her? I had so many opportunities where she was at the point to begging me to kill her. Yet even though the surge of power flowed through my veins something held me back and I couldn't do it! I couldn't let her die!

I had seemingly and unconsciously found my way back to my arena; it came into view and immediately I saw the little creature huddled in a corner. It actually surprised me to still see her there—I had honestly figured she'd be running by now; after all, she had all night. Yet it shouldn't have been expected since she wouldn't have gotten very far without collapsing. She was much too far away from any village or otherwise to get very far. My chest tightened and I wanted to blow her apart before I closed the distance any further. The last thing I wanted right now was to look upon her and suddenly have that urge to touch her…I vowed I'd never allow myself to perform such a demoralizing act ever, ever again.

I landed on the floor gently, opposite of where she stood. The moment she heard me she looked up, but I quickly kept my eyes away from her unsettling gaze. If I didn't look at her I could keep myself in place and not consider her existence. As long as she sat there and said nothing….

Of course that couldn't be possible. She couldn't take the hint that I stood stiff and unhappy; if I tightened my fists any more my nails were likely to draw blood from my palms. "Please say something," she said in a timid voice and my finger tips nearly punctured my skin.

The muscles in my face cringed and I could feel my mouth drawing out the frown I held even more. "I have nothing to say to you," I replied harshly. And although I had just said I wouldn't, I continued. "I'm actually surprised you're still here. I figured you'd be well on your way so you can get away from this inhuman-freak, as you so called."

She bit her lip and looked away momentarily. "Look, I'm sorry. I really am. I mean…this whole thing—the past few days and stuff—it's really taken its toll on me. It's not exactly what I thought I'd be going through."

I had a horribly strong urge to lash out at her with every bit of contempt I felt. Could she really be that stupid to think that this wouldn't have happened? She came out here looking for trouble—she was dumber than I gave her credit for if she thought she'd get what she wanted and never see any consequences. I did give her what she wanted…she learned the answer to every question she asked…she just wouldn't be able to share those answers with the rest of the world.

"Where did you go?" She asked suddenly. She started walking towards me now, and I could feel myself growing tenser with every step she took. I didn't want her coming near me…I didn't want that desire to even come close to entering my thoughts again.

"I had a bit of frustration that needed to be let out. I went looking for some innocent victims to prey on," I said truthfully and she stopped quickly.

"You didn't…"

"Do you want a body count?" I countered.

"Cell…how could you…"

"Shall I demonstrate?"

"I'm serious Cell….why?"

She was angering me…"Why not? The entire human race is due to become extent within a matter of days, so why not give a few of them a jump start into the next life? Its only fitting that I warm up my future actions with a little exercise."

"You know, I was going to give you another chance…try to think that you're not all that bad. But now…I don't think I can, Cell. I just don't think I can."

"And you think your petty words will bother me?" I asked. She really angered me. "Say what you will, but what's done is done. And I have no regrets."

"None?"

"None."

"So what you forced upon my yesterday is just all part of your plan?"

Damn her. Damn her to all burning Hell. How dare she try to push me into a corner. Of course it wasn't part of my plan! She wasn't supposed to know that, though! What I did and said was final and she wasn't supposed to question that.

I quickly formulated an answer that would hopefully shut her up. "What I did yesterday was purely spur of the moment. I allowed the human portion of my instincts to get the best of me, and all it proved was that my upbringing was correct—humans are humble, lonely creatures."

"Then you were on the verge of surrendering to such a lousy specimen."

I nearly laughed, but I kept my humor to myself. She really did believe she was so smart and had me figured out. My poor, dear Layrial…how little you know. "Trust me, it will never happen again."

I saw the sorrow in her face, the regret settling in her eyes as she looked down. I smiled and allowed a soft chuckle to escape my throat. "What's wrong, Layrial? You look as if you've seen a ghost."

Without any sign of her upcoming actions, she turned around and retreated for her corner. What surprised me, though, was that she started throwing everything into the plastic bag she had and gathered everything up in her arms. I waited to see how long she'd go before she fell and broke down into her pitiful sobs, but when she jumped off the platform and started walking away, I realized she was serious.

"Where do you think you're going?" I called to her.

Her answer was simple. "Home."

I laughed inwardly to myself with that word and watched her continue proudly forward. And then…when she was much farther away than I anticipated her going, I discovered that she was very serious. She was going without looking back. She was going to take her chances in the desert; she'd rather die of dehydration, starvation or animal attack than spend the rest of her life huddled here with me looming over her.

I waited and watched. Every minute that passed she became more distant. Not once did I see her look over her shoulder or pause in her steady pace. I was watching her leave me instead of the other way around. She was finishing her life without giving me the pleasure of doing it myself. If she died it was her fault, now wasn't it?

Surprisingly, though, she made it farther than I expected. She was almost out of my line of sight. My curiosity struck up and I wanted to see how far she could get before she gave up. I took to the air slowly, making sure to keep my distance in case she decided to finally look back. She hadn't, thankfully, and I continued to observe her from above. The length of time she was able to continue was astounding. How many humans would push themselves like this? I could see that she was starting to get slower the further she got, which meant she was growing tired. Her ambition was running out and soon she'd meet her doom.

I waited, though, longer than I thought I'd have to. She continued on and on, not once looking back or stopping to catch her breath. She was slowly walking now and I figured it was only a matter of time before she gave up completely. I decided to turn off course and watch her from a nearby rocky hill. I stood still and calm, the heat having little affect on me as I watched her.

Finally she went down, rolling over and staring up at the sky. She took what I assumed was a bottle of water and poured it over her face. She was so relaxed from laying there it seemed as if she accepted the notion that her time was up. It didn't matter whether she lived or died any more.

As I noticed she was no longer moving a thought came to my mind and I didn't like it one bit. I felt like there was some little foreign creature standing on my shoulder, whispering into my ear and telling me untruthful words. If there was such a creature I'd flick him into eternity to whisper to someone else. I didn't care for her; if she died it mattered not to me.

_Then why are you out here watching her die?_

Because I want to see her finally meet the inevitable.

_You care for her, you fool. You care for a human._

I deny such a thing.

_Which means its true…_

I found myself going to her. I stepped down next to her, knowing full well that she wasn't dead—yet—but she was close to it. She looked at me weakly, but it didn't seem she understood what was around her.

"Layrial, I want you to know that I hate you for doing this to me," I told her, and I only spoke the way I did because I knew she wasn't conscious enough to understand. "You've done something to me that I can't explain…and I hate you very much for it."

I grabbed her arm and pulled her up, everything that was in her arms falling to the ground and remaining there. I picked her up and held her, her body so limp that it made me wonder how she was still breathing. When I looked at her next her eyes were closed; she had finally passed out.

There was one thing for me to do if I couldn't finish her off myself. I'll allow her to live; she'll be the one person to be able to say she escaped perfect Cell. I'll make sure she'll receive the proper care so she can open her eyes and realize that I had spared her life. I will rid myself of her once and for all and yet I'll have kept my promise as the gentleman I am.


	11. Cold Remembrance

**Chapter 11: **_Cold Remembrance_

The silence wasn't as golden as the term claimed. It was peaceful and calm, but I wasn't enjoying it. The quietness of the desert I stood alone in wasn't the same as it had been before all this turmoil had started. I found myself unconsciously staring at that corner she had made her makeshift resting place. I wondered if she had died; wondered if those humans had pulled her inside that hospital quick enough to save her life. I had been quick in making my retreat from bringing her there where no one saw me. It would be a freak accident, that out of nowhere a girl appeared passed out on the sidewalk.

I hadn't looked back as I left her there to challenge fate to its own will. I left and came right back to stand in the same position for nearly five days. I was bored beyond compare, but for the first time I had no desire to do anything about it. I could've gone looking for trouble, as I'm sure it was referred to by Goku and his little friends, but I didn't. I could've gone back into space, perhaps taken a tour of a galaxy or two, but I didn't.

Instead I came to the realization, five days later, that I was sick. Not in the physical way a mortal would be—that was impossible; I wasn't capable of getting ill. Yet in ways I felt it. My stomach turned as I stood there and let her name pass through my train of though. _Layrial…_It made me sick to know I couldn't get her out of my mind. I wanted to rid myself of her entirely, but even getting her out of my line of site for multiple days couldn't cure this ailment.

If I had killed her, would I be the same way? I know it wouldn't have been if I ended her life right away like I should've in the first place. I believe my problem came from the knowledge that she should still be alive. Which comes to question why didn't I do what I was 'famous' for? I had ridden the world of those two men she had appeared with, but I couldn't continue when it was her turn.

The fear…it was all about the fear I saw swelling in her eyes. For some reason it delighted me more than it had with others. Perhaps it was because she was so haughty on the outside, but coward away when it came time to deal with reality. It could also possibly be that way she had of addressing me; she was timid at times, but she had found enough boldness buried deep within her soul to try to come back and fight me. She even tried to inflict pain on me, though she wasn't completely in a right state of mind when that incident occurred.

And through it all I enjoyed her presence more and more. Watching her sleep in a curled ball on the cold tiled floor, knowing I was the reason she was forced to uncomfortably spend her nights in such a way made me feel…soft. A feeling I hated, yet enjoyed because it was different.

That was it. I finally had come to a conclusion. She brought out an emotion, if you wanted to call it that, that I hadn't had experience with. It was something new to do, something new to learn. It would give me a chance to explore what my enemies dwelled on and perhaps I'd learn something from this.

Naturally! If all else fails, which I highly doubt, the infliction of pain or even the idea of pain on anyone my enemies _loved_ would be enough to throw them into a different state of mind and make them weaker. It was a foolhardy plan!

Yes, Layrial, you have taught me something indeed! I know the secret…I know how to get underneath the tough layers of skin of Goku. It would be his downfall. It always has been. Why hadn't I seen this before? I know the history of the Saiyan and how he always pitied his enemies. Look at what happened on the planet Namak, for example. He ignored the strength of his enemy because of his high sense of compassion and look where it got him—his friends started to die and planet was destroyed.

Although…that incident was what caused him to turn Super Saiyan; it could be a disaster if the course turned bad. Never mind that…if any of them somehow unleashed more power than they even realized they had then I'll be ready. It'll allow me to challenge my complete power, which is what I want, right? Yes.

I know I had spent hours dwelling on ideas such as this. I had barely noticed that someone was coming. I looked out into the distance and narrowed my eyes; a car was heading this way. At first I wondered if it was just someone passing along…maybe even another stupid fool trying to get a glimpse of me.

And then a thought popped into my head…could it be Layrial? Of course not—she was gone, whether for good or at least out of my life where I'd never have to deal with her again. When the car stopped, though, my intrigue grew and I suffered from a small hope that it was her….No, Cell, you don't need this right now. The tournament is around the corner and the last thing you need is for her to mess up everything. You care nothing for her, remember this! Remember that all she is is a nuisance you finally got rid of because you couldn't stand her any longer.

When that door opened and the person stepped out I felt everything close around me. My eyes became wide within a split second and I felt my heart jump, but not in a good way. She had come back, fully restored in health, but obviously still not in mind. Why? Why was I doomed to suffer in this way? This human girl drove me to near insanity and I didn't want to have to open that book again. I had closed it, finished it. But it seemed that I hadn't read the last chapter…

She walked steadily towards me, a bag thrown over her shoulder and a small smile pulling up her face. I nearly cringed at the sight of her; she was clean, fresh and looked almost…happy….

Layrial stopped at the edge of the ringside and looked up at me with glittering eyes. I tried not to show my disgust. "Hello, Cell," she said calmly.

I turned towards her and let out a silent sigh. My life wasn't as perfect as I wanted it. "Why on Earth have you returned, Layrial?"

She stepped onto the ring and dropped her bag as if she was going to spend the night here; I wouldn't allow that. There was no way I was going to suffer with her being here again.

"I wanted to," she said finally.

"You wanted to," I repeated, my eyes narrowing on her. "That's not a conclusive response. I'd like a better explanation."

She came closer, shrugging her shoulders and giving me a sickeningly sweet look. "I was in the hospital for three days, although I only remember one. Then I was home by myself for two days. And during that time I realized there was something…just something about you that intrigued me."

I couldn't help but laugh at this. "I intrigue you, eh? My dear girl, how does it come to be that I, Cell, the most powerful being in the universe came to be an intriguing creature to a mere human?"

"I can't explain it. If I was able to then I probably would've found a way to talk myself out of coming here."

"It might've been the wiser choice," I replied. "You're putting yourself in the middle of what will be the fight for the survival of your planet."

"I don't care."

My eyes became wider and I could feel air slipping through my lips. She didn't care? Was she lying to me or was she honestly not concerned with what could happen to her? She was going to die, there was no doubt about that, but she would put herself in the line of fire?

"Brave," I said finally with a bit of admiration for her. "Foolish but brave. I suppose I should be honored."

"Yeah, you should be," she said. "It's early in the morning, I haven't had my coffee, and I'm trying to overrule the fact that I'm insane."

"I wouldn't go as far as calling yourself insane, Layrial. Perhaps a bit confused."

"What do you mean confused?"

I gave her a full hearted smile and looked into her eyes for the first time without the urge to strangle her. "You think I have some sort of concern for your well being. You are also trying to convince yourself, if not secretly hoping that I have a mutual care for your affections." He snickered. "I hate to be the bringer of bad news, but none of the above is true on my half."

I seemed to have thrown her off for only a second, because she retaliated quickly. "Oh really now? So my assumption on you _not _being the one who rescued me was true then."

So she wanted to go down that road, did she? So be it…. "As a matter of fact, I had done the deed. I'm surprised you made it as far as you did after I got over the initial shock that you had the guts to go through with leaving me." When she continued to stare at me with a bit of surprise caught in her gaze, I added, "Is that so hard to believe?"

"Say what?" She asked after shaking her head about strangely.

"The look on your face suggests you really didn't think I had."

"A very, very small part me wondered, but no, I didn't think you had done it. I thought it was beneath you to do something nice…"

I looked away from her and kept my arms firmly crossed over my chest. "Trust me, if I hadn't acted so absurdly I would've just left you there to die."

"Then why the heck did you do it?" She asked quickly.

"I couldn't tell you."

"Cell, lets just be honest with each other," she said. "Obviously there's something between us, even if neither of us have figured it out completely or if we have we don't want to admit it."

"Perhaps," I replied simply, but I didn't want her to start letting those rusty gears in her head to do more than they could handle. "But don't get any ideas from it."

"Like what? You think I'm going to ask you to run off with me and get married?"

"Please," I replied. "I refuse to even acknowledge the deceitful ties you humans make with one another."

"They're not deceitful if you love the other person," she said. "And I wouldn't marry you anyway. So don't flatter yourself."

"Oh trust me, I won't," I told her point blank. She's the one hoping for flattery. "But I assure you for the sake of settling your mind and admitting it openly to myself that there is something there that I'm not sure I completely _want_ to comprehend; especially now. My Cell Games begin tomorrow morning and nothing will hold me back."

"I figured not," she said rather softly. What she expected from me, I didn't know and couldn't tell.

I did know, however, that having her here now would push me into thoughts I had determined to be a thing of the past. I kept myself from glancing at her and ultimately considering her. I wanted her to go home and that was that. I didn't need to return to the state of mind I was in five days earlier.


	12. Charade

**Chapter 12: **_Charade_

I was grateful for the mere fact that she remained quiet while I gave this some thought. I needed to decide right away what should be done. She couldn't stay—that much was for certain. I need the time to mediate and prepare myself for the upcoming slaughters that were about to take place here tomorrow morning. Having her here would only disrupt my calm ways of thought; she had to go.

Although, perhaps I should ask her what it was she intended on doing. Why had she come? She claimed she didn't know, but I couldn't believe that statement. It was much to general and for a human to throw themselves into my presence was a result of complete insanity or an ulterior motive.

"Well, Layrial," I asked, "what do you propose should be done now? Shall we continue yet another lengthy conversation which will include insults and torture on your mind while I indulge in the pleasure of getting you frustrated, or do you think that its time for you to give up this charade and leave."

She looked at me with mild irritation, just as I had proclaimed. "First of all, who says I get frustrated?"

I smiled broadly. "I refuse to answer such an obvious question."

"Alright, then why is this a charade?"

"What would you prefer to call it?"

She was quiet for some time, but finally she looked me square in the eye; I could tell she thought of some way to retaliate. "Look Cell," she began, "I want you to honestly answer this without any attitude or sarcasm involved."

"Well my dear that all depends on the question itself," I pointed out.

She sighed and continued without lingering on my statement. "Do you or do you not feel something other than the need or desire to kill me?"

It was a fair question on her part, but I couldn't answer it. That's why she told me to restrain the need of attitude or sarcasm I usually throw into my answers. She wanted it put clear and simple on a silver platter right in front of her nose. I stared at her, my face unfaltering to my knowledge, and thought for several moments what I should say. "Perhaps," was the only thing I could let escape from my mouth.

She didn't like that, but I couldn't blame her. I'll admit it was rather pitiful. "That's not a straight forward answer," she said. "Perhaps it leans more towards yes, but you could be playing your mind tricks again."

"I take no pride in provoking people with _mind tricks_. I'd much rather use my supreme intellect in making others feel inadequate." Her expression was quite amusing, being rather lazy and stupid to put it simply, but I figured that she deserved enough of an answer to make her return a bit more rewarding, since she was risking her life on her own terms. "To answer your question completely, though first I'd like to inform you this is mere observation on my own personal feelings, that yes, I do believe there is the chance that there's something that has kept you alive longer than any normal human would've lasted under the same circumstances you found yourself in."

I wished I hadn't said that after I had finished. Her face became relaxed and steady as she stared at me. "Stop looking all blissful," I said with a bit of annoyance. "Do you think I take pride in admitting that to you? I'm ashamed of it, really. It's against my programming and everything Dr. Gero requested of me. Not to mention the fact that I have no use for you."

I could feel my control over my temper snap and immediately my hand shot up and my energy formed a small ball in my palm. I held it for her to see, my face angry and nearly revengeful. I hated her so much it pained me to look at her any longer without doing something about this.

"Don't think you'll survive this one," I told her. "I have more important matters to look forward to and I need to keep my concentration on that rather than having you around to attempt to distract me. Say good-bye to your miserable life, Layrial."

She backed away and looked scared beyond belief. "So that's it then?" She asked suddenly, her voice quivering.

"Yes," I stated and pushed more energy to the ki blast that was waiting to be released.

"Is it because you don't know how to handle it; or is it because you're too much of a coward to face the fact that you went against your so-called programming."

"I am not a coward!" I yelled. I know I had never raised my voice at her before, but how dare she even consider trying to call me such a demeaning word! Of all people in this universe, I was _not_ a coward and I would _not_ allow her to even think she had any sort of unearthly right to think it.

"You're not, huh? Then what the hell do you call it, Cell?" She was pushing her luck; I raised my energy level quickly and the wind started to pick up around us. "You never thought that you'd find a flaw in yourself! But if you think about it, it's not a flaw! It only makes you more real than a stupid machine!"

The rage inside of me burst. I shoved her against one of the pillars and held the ki in front of her chest. If my hand moved one more centimeter forward she'd start to melt. I could feel the anger swelling through me, more than it ever had before. I had never been so livid, not even when I was having difficulties getting my hands on Android 18.

"Foolish girl," I said after a moment passed to give her time to realize that I was going to kill her. "I hold your life in the palm of my hand. I can blow you away without any hopes of finding a crump of your existence in the mess of rubble that'll land on the desert floor. You have _NO_ idea what you're dealing with!"

"What's the difference? If you kill me you've lost! It'll mean that I was right after all!"

"If you live it'll mean you were right on me being fond of you!"

"I never came out and said you were fond of me!"

I refused to admit that I let my last statement slip. I took hold of her throat and immediately squeezed my fingers around it.

"Please…" she said, tears running freely down her face. "Cell…you're hurting me."

I felt a strike of realization. This wasn't the way out…it would only make me look like a child. And hurting her…wasn't what I wanted to ever do. I backed away, my power level stabilizing to normal and her body sagging against the pillar without me holding her up by her delicate neck.

"I will not admit to losing to you Layrial," I said softly; "but I will say that what you claim holds true. You caught me and I shall admit the fact that my anger let it be so."

She looked at me as if I was going to strike again at any given moment. I could feel the tension trickling away from my face as I relaxed and looked at her. I needed to know…if this was to continue, I needed to know what she saw in me. Why would she do this to herself if she knew my nature?

"I want you to tell me the real reason why you came back out here."

She hesitated before answering. "I…I guess it's because there's something that's struck me into…liking you."

"Like," I stated. "As in that intrigue you mentioned earlier was true? You have an interest in me beyond the fact that it would make such a wonderful story that you survived my clutches?"

"Yeah, I guess so. Don't ask me why…I just…I think it's your eyes and voice that have captivated me. They're so human I forget that you're an android. And your…intellect, as you called it, is so smooth and stuff that its hard for me to remember that you're a terrorist, not a poet or something."

I had never expected in all my life to hear something like that from anyone that breathed the same air I did. It wasn't ambition for her human records—it was pure self motivation for her own personal desire. She was attracted to me in ways I hadn't thought possible by either side of this force. I could only cross my arms and turn away with a deep breath filling my lungs. I had lost. I had lost miserably to a girl nearly half my height, barely a readable fraction of my strength and a girl that was purely human. A human that was supposed to be like all the rest…like the ones I was supposed to destroy.

"Cell…why didn't you kill me just now when you were so close?"

I nearly cringed when she asked me. She would force me to put what I was humiliated even to think no less express in terms of words. Damn her. "When you said I was hurting you I realized…it wasn't what I wanted to do."

Thankfully I had already turned away so I could see her. If I had to say that face to face I think I would've malfunctioned, if that were even at all possible (which it wasn't). But then something splintered through me. Something warm touched my wing and immediately I felt a sensation I had only felt once before shooting through my entire body.

I turned around to face her quickly and she jumped away, her face clearly afraid. "Did I scare you and what you put on was all a show?"

"Yeah, Cell, you scared the living daylights out of me," she said. "But I figured what was the difference whether I died in apparent fear or tried to be brave?"

She did something yet again I hadn't expected. She reached up as far as she could and touched my face. I didn't move a single muscle anywhere in my body as her fingers traced my jaw and touched my cheek. That sensation hadn't died away like it had the first time; instead it continued to flow through me freely, but I didn't seem to be trying to ignore it. Or her for that matter; I was stuck into staring at her for all that it was worth.

When her hand started to leave I caught it and held it in my own. I looked at her soft expression, as if she forgave me for nearly ending her life. I knew what I wanted…but what did she want? "Do you want to kiss me again, Layrial?" I asked finally.

She didn't move at first, as if shocked I'd propose such a thing. "Yes," she said eventually and I leaned down to her. This time I wasn't about to force her into anything just to prove a point. No, it was completely different. I indulged in the feel of her lips on mine and her body pressed against me. It was something I can't even begin to explain…and I don't think I wanted to. Whatever had happened to me had sealed my fate for eternity.


	13. Dignity of an Android

**Another Update, Another Note:** Well, this is a very long chapter…5 pages as a matter of fact. Anyway, I'm pretty much on a role with writing this and getting it wrapped up, although the harder part is just ahead. I have a few different ideas on how it'll end in Cell's eyes, but I haven't made the final decision.

A big thanks to those of you who reviewed…it really does mean a lot. You know how much I adore your comments. And to answer **chesterzerousygirl's **question, I'm not sure if I'll write such a story. I know getting Cell and Layrial together in the end is what everyone really wants, but I'll have to strongly think about it since I've got this thing for keeping Cell in character. I will not give a definite answer at this point. :)hehe. Anyway, review people, review! Ciao!

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**Chapter 13: **_Dignity of an Android_

Thousands of thoughts ran through my head. I was kissing a human. I was kissing in general, and it was a weak sign of an emotion I shouldn't have to have come upon. I cared for her enough to allow myself to lower my stature for a moment. I knew that I could never threaten her again, even though I also knew there was nothing that officially kept me from doing so. I was tied to her, somehow, someway that I felt the need for her to be with me. Layrial belonged to me now; no one could touch her.

And then I remembered the tournament. For a moment or two I completely forgot that I was about to destroy the world. I was so intoxicated by her scent and her touch that I completely lost sight of what I was all about. I was a weapon designed to destroy the human race…although for me it's easier just to blow up the planet. I've spent years upon years working to get to this very point I was at now, the chance to see Dr. Gero's dream be realized. Failure was not a choice—it couldn't even be a thought.

Layrial's presence was overwhelming and if my eyes glanced at her for a second I could lose myself to this weakness I was suffering from now. I couldn't afford to let Goku or anyone else to see this. They could use her against me. I wouldn't try to work around her if they did so; I'd probably shrug it off and destroy her with them. But I didn't want the chance to arise.

I pulled away and stared at her, the taste of her mouth still fresh on my lips as I turned away. I was far too perfect a being to have to deal with this confusion. I needed her to disappear. "You should leave," I said stubbornly.

"But…why? We just—"

"I know _we just_," I scolded quickly, interrupting her words before she could point out the obvious to me. It had to be this way; in order to protect her and keep my pride, I had to do this. "Do you not understand, Layrial? I'm your worst nightmare, whether you see it directly or not. Tomorrow the fate of your planet will be decided and I will not back down from my mission."

"I thought…"

"You thought I'd give up because I said I've grown fond of you? I'm afraid your mistaken, my dear." I craned my head to look at her once again, her eyes confused and saddened by my words. "If you stay here you'll be in grave danger. I don't plan on restraining myself to this small arena for the entire event; and when I do break lose things could get rather ugly."

She stood silent for a moment, but then her face became stern and serious. "No," she said.

I leaned my head back a bit and raised part of my brow. "I beg your pardon?"

"I said no. I'm not leaving. It's my choice to be here, right?"

It almost made me want to bang my head against the hardest surface I could find. She was _such_ an impossible creature. "I suppose…" I said, knowing full well where this would lead.

"Then it's my choice to stay and watch. I'm not afraid—damn it, if I'm not afraid to be standing here with you right now then I'm not afraid of freaking watching a damn martial arts tournament."

She was so stubborn; I've never seen a human with her sort of ambition. I couldn't help but smile and realize that she wasn't all that different in terms of stubbornness than I was. "Very well," I replied and bowed my head at her. "I'll allow you to stay, but if I were you I'd keep my distance. I can't and won't watch out for you—make sure you understand that."

A chuckle forced its way out of her mouth, but it wasn't convincing. "Cell, I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself."

_Of course you could_, I thought to myself sarcastically. "Good. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have important matters to attend to."

"Huh? What sort of stuff now!"

"I'd like to stretch my muscles before the big fight. It's only fair that I be at my best when the others line up tomorrow to sign their death warrants," I said.

She stomped her foot and gave me a pout, actions that reminded me she was so much lower on the food chain than I was. "Damn it, Cell, I'm tired of being left out here by myself."

I smiled at her, though I was nearly rolling my eyes. "You should've thought of that before you came out here. We've spent enough time embracing each other for now."

"What do you think this is all about? Do you think I want you to be holding me constantly and sweet talking me under the moonlight?" She laughed. "No…no, no, no; I just don't like being out here by myself! I have no defense, don't you realize that? If something came out to attack me, what would I do?"

"Run," I replied as if the answer was much too obvious. "I'm sure you're capable of that—especially now that you're not wearing that ridiculous pair of footwear you had when we first met."

She seemed completely agitated, along with astonished, as I started to hover away. I waved two fingers as a farewell and continued on into the sky of the morning, although I'll have to admit straight forward I had no idea where I was going to go. I would train, most likely, once I found a suitable spot that is; but my main objective was to get away from her so I could sort things out in my mind. I needed to analyze my actions and try to understand what was wrong with me.

I came upon an island that was panorama of scattered trees atop mountains, plateaus and other rock formations. It was deserted and a near-wasteland, but it would do for the time being. I floated a little less than half a mile from the ground and stared down at what little there was.

But my mind wasn't on the island. It was on Layrial. I couldn't figure her out. Why did she come back? I already know the answer she gave me…but that's irrelevant in some ways. I had nearly killed her several times, I've shown her no respect and above all I've made it known how much I hated her. Yet…after all of that she came back to me. Would any other human have done that? I had come in contact with hundreds if not thousands of people and each one gave me the same reaction—they screamed and then ran. It wasn't humiliating, and I wasn't angry with that. It was what I expected. Yet…Layrial was the exception to every rule I ever made.

What really annoyed me though…is that I let her be that exception. I let her into my closed circle. She was able to break some sort of unknown barrier I had created. I enjoyed looking at her and touching her. I even enjoyed conversing with her sometimes. Why was this happening to me?

I landed on one of the higher peaks of the mountains littering the island and crossed my arms. None of this made any logical sense. I've never been known to be confused, but now I've learned just what it means to be backed into a corner with no way out. I feel if I lost her I'd go mad; I feel if I keep her I'll still go insane.

I stood there for I don't know how long. Not once had my mind shifted to the tournament. I was stuck on the thought of this human girl and I couldn't be rid of the image of her jumping through my closed eyes. I finally looked out over the horizon and stared at it. This would be the last time Earth saw an afternoon such as this. I would finally meet Goku and show him I was better and more powerful. I would take down all of Earth's warriors and make him watch them die one by one. And then, I'll kill him. It'll be the best moment of my existence.

And then I'll destroy the Earth.

And then I'll decide what it'll be like when the girl is dead.

I finally decided I had been away from the arena long enough. Of all days, tonight may be the night where people would start gathering to witness tomorrow's events. I wouldn't be surprised if more reporters and cameras appeared in my face…though I think I'll relocate them if they step within twenty meters of my ring.

Upon returning, I noticed that Layrial seemed to be thinking as well. She sat still, her eyes focused on something in front of her, and she didn't seem to take notice to my appearance. Finally, I smiled and asked, "Deep in thought, are you?"

She was startled, but turned to me easily. "No, not really," she replied dryly.

"I'm sure," I said as I sauntered over to her.

She stood up and threw a smug attitude in my general direction. "Took you long enough," she stated.

"Oh trust me, I could've been gone a lot longer," I replied with a small grin, "but I felt that you might die of starvation since you're only mortal."

"And you're not?"

"You should know by now, dear Layrial, that I don't require food or water for survival. Its part of my design—I can live anywhere."

"All the more fun for you," she commented.

As she spoke, I looked over to the clutter she made on the floor, part of that which was food. "But of course. Though I see I wasted my efforts coming back since you came prepared this time. I had wondered if you had been smart enough not to take any chances and go hungry."

She crossed her arms and started to tap her foot into an annoying rhythm as if she had every right to find something wrong with what I was saying to her. "Are you enjoying the cracks you're making at me?"

I couldn't let my grin go; I continued to look down at her, my eyes digging deep into her own. I held it for a moment longer before finally turning and walking back to my given position in the center of the arena. I thought to myself for a moment, wondering if I should ask her what has been delving into my mind for quite some time now.

Finally, however, I gave in and let the words slowly and gently spring forward. "Layrial, may I ask you something?" She gave me a hesitant yes, and I allowed myself a moment to consider backing off from what I wanted to ask. However, being who I was, I never backed off from anything. "Do you love me?"

The four words nearly stung my tongue as I spoke them. It wasn't something I ever thought I'd ask, or even want to ask. In fact, I didn't think that the word 'love' was in my vocabulary.

"I don't know," she said and then inquired as to why.

That was a very good question, but I couldn't let her in on that small bit of information. I really had no idea why I felt it necessary to know such a thing—it didn't matter one way or another, right? I was a being that didn't need such an emotion to dwell upon, nor would I dwell on it if I did find myself touching upon it.

So, before all else failed, I fabricated the best answer I could in the little time I had. "I'm aware of how human emotions operate and I was merely curious to see how quickly it would work in a situation such as this. Now you're either lying to me or you truly don't realize it yourself." I paused a moment and figured out another way to get an answer from her. "So let me ask you this, Layrial—if you had to choose yes or no without any consequences, but no other options for answers, which would be the first choice?"

"No," she replied after that.

I closed my eyes momentarily and allowed the single word to repeat in my head a few more times. "Surprising, I must say," I thought aloud.

"Why?"

"I figured you'd say yes, perhaps in hopes to strengthen your chances of living after tomorrow when I destroy the planet." I turned my head so I could glance at her over my shoulder, my smile still present.

"I wish you'd stop talking about that," she said and returned to her sitting formation, pulling her knees up in a protective and by the looks of it uncomfortable position.

I gazed at her, turning my head just a bit more to see her easier. "Are you afraid to die, Layrial?"

"What the hell do you think?" She spat back. "Wouldn't you be?"

"I fear nothing, especially something as unlikely as death. In my case, it would take someone very gifted and very, very lucky to overpower me," I said truthfully.

"So I figured."

I turned to her then and saw her hide her face from my view. I made my way towards her, waiting for her eyes to gaze upon me like they had so many times before. When they didn't, I wondered why….but moreover I wondered why I wanted her to respond to me. I wondered if there was something about her that I was attracted too, and although I probably wouldn't admit it, I figured it wasn't worth thinking about. I knew what I had to do in the long run. For this moment, though, I'd allow myself to enjoy the situation at hand.

I had extended my hand and after a short while she looked up and stared at it as it wasn't a hand but a venomous snake waiting to strike. She finally placed her small hand into mine, however, and I pulled her to her feet and brought her closer to me. Her face leaned up against my chest and I put my hands on her waist.

"I vowed to leave no one alive," I said. "You must know this."

"Please stop talking about it," she replied timidly.

"Why have you not asked me?"

"Ask you what?" She asked, looking at me curiously.

"If I feel the sentiment of love towards you."

"I figured I already knew the answer," was the reply.

"Oh?"

"If you loved me you'd reconsider destroying me and the world I live in. Therefore, there is no reason to ask you since you've been constantly reminding me that I will die tomorrow and you had said earlier that it's a foolish emotion."

"So I did," I said with little resentment. I knew she was right—far too right, in fact. I said nothing more for the time being, though, since she had resumed the placement of her head against my body. It confused me beyond belief that this girl would embrace me as she would another human even with the lingering knowledge that her death was inevitably hanging over her head.


	14. Fear and Settlement

**Notie:** Another _**long **_chapter, and yet again I'm being very, _very _lazy and not editing it. This is actually two chapters combined from the original story, and a lot of it was, honestly, a copy and paste thing from the original since a good chunk is dialogue. I'm thinking there aren't many mistakes in it, but if there are, I apologize ahead of time. I'll have to admit I'm looking forward to the ending of this one…I don't recommend rewriting something you've already done; it can get rather boring and bothersome ;)

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**Chapter 14: **_Fear and Settlement_

The calmness that washed over me was spectacular. I felt like a completely different person, but not in the way I expected to. This wasn't as degrading as I figured it would be; no, for some reason it was splendid and relaxing. I felt as if she belonged to me, as if she was mine to keep and protect. I understood now why someone as pompous as Vegeta would allow himself to settle down and stay with a woman. There was something that made me proud to be holding her…as if she were mine.

I looked down to her, her face looking gentle and cool; her arms were loosely around my waist, but I could tell that it wasn't a forced embrace. "What are you thinking?" I asked her.

She pulled away from me and looked up. "Oh nothing. It's getting cooler out, so I'm going to go to the car and get my sweatshirt."

My eyes remained on her as she walked away towards the vehicle she had left a distance away. I couldn't help but look her over, and the strange feeling I had yet to identify lurched through my stomach. I knew I was smiling without telling myself to do so. She had captivated me in such a way where I don't think there was a chance to turn back. This human girl _was_ now mine.

When she returned, a small grin pulling at the corners of her mouth, I tilt my head ever so slightly and looked at her knowingly. "Layrial, I just had a thought," I said. "What would you say I gave you the experience of a lifetime?"

She seemed a bit uneasy and questioned innocently, "Dare I ask what sort of experience?"

At first it took me a moment to realize that perhaps she was thinking of something far beyond my own thoughts, but I could tell the mind of a human thought of the extreme at any given instance. "Oh an honest one, let me assure you," I replied truthfully. "You've only experienced flying once, and I'm nearly positive you weren't concerned with the scenery given the present company."

"Yeah, you were exactly my favorite person," she answered.

In ways I still wondered if I still fit into that category—not that it mattered, of course. "Well then how would you like a second go?"

"A what…?"

I could see the fear taking hold of her and her body quickly tensed up as I approached her, my arms uncurling from the crossed position I held them in.

"Cell, I can't," she said cautiously.

"Layrial, it's not like I've asked you to do anything else. Do you not trust me?"

"You don't understand," she told me; "I'm terrified of flying."

"Come now, there's nothing to be scared of." She stepped back. "You are a strange girl," I replied when she did this. "You have enough courage to put yourself in the presence of someone such as myself, trust me enough to stick around to chit-chat, so to speak, but you won't allow me to show you something that I'm sure you'd consider spectacular."

"Damn right," she said. "You're not the one being dragged along having no clue how the hell to fly. I can't and the thought of falling how-many hundreds of feet scares me shitless."

"If you think I'd drop you at this point then you should check your logic. I could've killed you easily only hours ago—I wouldn't spare you to delay your death by falling from the air. That's immoral." She was starting to agitate me again.

"If you had some sort of harness attached then maybe I'd think about it, but since you don't then forget it."

I started walking towards her again with the hope that maybe she would try to get away and I wouldn't have to bother with her…"I'm giving you one last chance," I said. "Either come with me or I'll give up standing around here and be on my way."

"To do what, more warm ups?"

"But of course."

She glanced down with apparent defeat. "Alright, alright, I give up. I'll go."

"As I figured you would," I boasted and held my arm out to her. She finally came to me and I lifted her with extreme ease. Her body lay in my arms, but her hands locked themselves tightly behind my neck as if that offered her some sort of support if I were to let go.

"No hanging on your back, huh?" she asked with a bit of forced amusement.

"I don't think you'd be very comfortable," I said as I left the ground. Not to mention I wouldn't be very comfortable with her weight, as little as it was, lying atop my wings and tail. I liked the ability to stretch my wings when I was flying—it felt so much better, not to mention I could pick up more speed and use less energy.

"I just ask you one favor," she started, but before I allowed her to ask the favor, which I already had an assumption as to what it could be; I took off at a speed she wouldn't have expected so soon.

"And what would that be?" I asked smugly.

"SLOW DOWN!"

I had no choice but to comply; for one she practically yelled in my ear; for another, I didn't need to hear complaints during the entire trip because she couldn't handle the intense rate at which I traveled.

I saw her looking around as we left the country and I could tell she there was surprise, yet terror mixing into her emotions. "I'm sure you're familiar with the Sea of Japan," I noted.

"The…no way, Cell—we couldn't have gotten over here that quickly."

"You forget that I'm capable of many things you don't realize possible, speed being one of them. However, if I went any faster you'd be crushed by the pressure."

We continued west, the distance between us and her home country furthering with every second. Eventually, she asked, "Cell, where are we now?"

I knew exactly where we were. "Central Asia," I said. I took my time now, allowing her to take in the sites as we passed over Europe, a place I figured she would enjoy to see from the air. I know we were gone for nearly an hour, but soon we were crossing the last ocean, the largest of them all, and approaching the night sky that had fallen in the east.

Instead of immediately returning to the ring, I went to a cliff near the ocean and landed near the edge. She stepped down as I let her, but she didn't move away. Her gaze stared out into the sea. "Cell," she said suddenly, "why'd you do it?"

I didn't make much of an effort to look at her as I stood there in my naturally straight position with my arms crossed over my chest. "I figured you'd like it," I nearly lied. It was the truth to a certain extent, but I could tell there were reasons I couldn't explain even to myself as to why I performed the act.

"It was nice," she said.

"I also wanted to see how much you trusted me now," I blurted out before taking the moment to think it over.

"Yeah? And what's your prognosis?"

"You trust me perhaps too well at this point, Layrial. Only a few moments after getting over the initial shock of being up there did you loosen your hold on me. Your reflexes wouldn't have been quick enough to grab on again if I had decided to let go."

"Were you thinking of letting go?"

She caught me, the blasted woman. "No," I said shortly. Second later she looked back at the scene before us; but I didn't. I looked at her. I stepped up, my body nearly touching hers, but I knew she could feel my presence. My hand unconsciously came up and pulled back her hair to expose her delicate neck. My fingers started to trail down her arms. I…no…it was impossible for me to feel anything for her. I didn't…

She turned around yet again and craned her neck to look up at me. And then…I knew that there was a chance this didn't have to end. I could have both ways—I would complete my mission and keep her. "I want you to come with me."

"Where?"

"Wherever I go after this," I answered.

"I can't. This is my home and I could never sit and watch you destroy it and then go with you so you can do the same to some place else." I should have known that would be the answer she'd give me. Although, I had considered the fact that since she trusted me as she did that she would come—that's why I had asked.

I leaned down and kissed her then, the feeling inside of me taking over. She was more into it than I was, it seemed, and her hand came up to slide down my head and neck. That feeling ripped me apart and I wanted to do something I couldn't even understand as to why.

"Cell, do you love me?"

I pulled away immediately and looked at her sternly. "I cannot answer that," I said quickly. There was no way I could let this turn into more than what it was. I didn't even want to make it this far…but it had, and this is where it would stop.

"Why? You wanted me to? If you had to choose—"

"Do not try to repeat the method I used on you," I said. "It won't work."

Silence had taken over once again and soon I gestured wordlessly for her to allow me to pick her up. If she hadn't, I would've thrown her over my shoulder and gone back that way, but luckily she gave me no trouble. As I returned to my tournament ring, the eve of my destiny upon me, I wondered why I was started to learn just what fear was when it came to her question.

Upon returning to the arena I noticed how quiet she had been. There hadn't been a single word uttered from her small mouth, and I idly wondered if I had silenced her with my harsh attitude towards her moments ago. She did deserve it since using the same techniques I used against her was foolish, but I believe she took it to heart. Humans were so hard to understand.

She nestled herself in the usual corner and I stared at her for the longest time—nearly all night. Her eyes barely glanced in my direction, but I still had the need to watch her sleep. The innocence she displayed was nearly weakening; that is to say, I wondered how a creature like her could be part of such an uncivilized community. The human race was so contradicting in its own practices that I'm amazed it survived for the thousands of years that it has until this point.

As the sun rose and settled itself high in the morning sky, however, I started to ignore the fact that Layrial had been sleeping peacefully only a few meters from my feet. She had been vulnerable and easily dispensable, but it mattered not to me—especially now. No, now there was one thing on my mind.

The day had finally come. The day I would prove to the world that I was the most perfect thing to ever walk this planet. Goku would struggle in all efforts to save his little home, but in the end he will die and watch me from another world as I destroyed everything he knew in life.

Soon the girl shifted and sat up, her face looking a bit tired, but she knew exactly where she was by the way she looked at me. "The day has arrived, Layrial. Are you excited?"

"Hardly," she said dully as she stood up and messed around with her belongings.

I couldn't help but lightly laugh at her attitude as I turned to face her. "Come now, don't you believe there's a slight chance, although an extremely small one, that I might just lose?"

"It's crossed my mind," she said. "But I doubt it. I'm over it now, though, Cell. If I die, I'll die knowing that my life wasn't all that bad compared to some."

A smile crept over my face and I looked at the nearly complete blue sky. "Only a few more hours until they come. I can hardly wait any longer. Ten days was far too long and boring."

"I'm sure you were almost dying with eagerness," she said as she started to fill her mouth with some sort of substance from a small box.

"The offer still holds," I said. "You can still decide your fate, Layrial."

"I have. I'm staying here. I don't want to live knowing that I'm the only surviving human and I watched the rest die." She eyed me sternly as she poured the contents of that little box into her mouth.

"So be it," he answered and wondered if, when the time came, she'd change her mind and allow me to do what I wanted with her.

"Cell, you'd end up killing me anyway," she said suddenly. "I can't defend myself or anything. How do you expect to tolerate that for more than a few days?"

I had wondered that very same question after I made the offer clear to her. Could I possibly survive with her clinging to me for protection? Would she start complaining enough where I'd strangle her before disintegrating her body? I knew not the answer, but I thought…perhaps hoped that I had enough willpower and strength to overcome any obstacles I'd have concerning her presence.

Layrial, however, seemed to have dropped the subject. She had started walking away, jumping off the ring and leaving without looking back. I quickly thought that she was giving up and leaving entirely so she didn't have to spend her last hours of life here with me. "Where are you going?" I found myself asking.

"I'm throwing this stuff in the car. I don't need it anymore."

I watched her walk off as she had the previous day, but half of me wondered if she'd lie to me and take off in her little vehicle. Her answer to my question could've been an excuse to keep me in place and not go after her. Not that I would have if I did think she was going to really disappear from sight permanently…

I thought best of the situation and wanted to know if her actions were a result of her anger for me. She wasn't getting her way and I've found that she could be a bit of a brat when such things happened. I instantly moved to where she had parked that stupid little contraption and when she turned around after closing its door she nearly plowed face first into me.

"Nothing like warning me!" She yelled straight forward.

"Layrial, I want to know what this attitude is all about," I said calmly. "I understand that—"

"You understand what, Cell?" She started as she moved away from me and her automobile. "You understand that I'm annoyed and aggravated because I spent my last night of life freezing my ass off and sleeping on the damn floor again? Or do you understand that I'm agitated because I didn't do half the things I wanted to accomplish in life because it's suddenly coming to an abrupt stop? Do you even care that you may understand that I'm mad at the world because I grew up not giving a damn about anything until this moment?"

Her temper was very surprising, to say the least. I never thought I'd hear her lash out against _me_ in such horrific anger. Her words didn't affect me in the way she probably hoped, but I wasn't expecting the reaction I received from her. "Your behavior is getting out of hand," I stated. "I merely asked a simple question."

"Oh go blow up another mountain," she said and started to march away.

She was very ignorant if she thought she could get away from me without a better fight. She may have stated her position, but it didn't mean she was the victor—she would never gain that sort of level above me. I appeared in front of her again, causing her to stop instantly and giving me a harshly cold and angered look. "Don't think I'm letting you off so easily."

"What the hell are you going to do about it? Are you going to punish me in some psycho way?"

"Are you implying that I'm psychotic?" I asked, the anger started to swell inside of me once again—I wasn't trying very hard to repress it either.

"Maybe!"

Now I had no choice but to take direct action to remind her who she was dealing with. I grabbed her arm and hauled her to me, looking at her with terror in my eyes. "I'd watch yourself Layrial…you may have caught my attention long enough to get you this far, but I have no conscience for you."

"Pity," she said as if she were unaffected. "Then you don't mind if I tell you to take your bullshit and shove it up your ass."

I…I couldn't believe what she had said to me. The vulgarity in her words was so intensely rude that I had allowed her to get away. Defiantly she returned to my ring without saying anything to me or even looking at me. She was humiliating me! Instead of trying to stand here and get back at me with words, she was trying to prove herself by walking away and turning the other cheek! I couldn't believe this!

I returned to the tiled flooring as well, but I refused to give her any sort of eye contact. I crossed my arms tightly over my chest and kept my back to her so I didn't have to be reminded that I could easily be tempted to look at her if I were to face her general direction.

"What, did I hurt your feelings? Or more like, bruise your ego?" I heard her say.

I wanted to kill her. "I'm refraining from speaking to the likes of you."

"Oh, I'm so sad now," she said.

Then she grew silent. I was a bit surprised she hadn't continued, but she was finally coming to her senses. Or so I thought until she started approaching me. She didn't know better than to stay away. If she thought I didn't know exactly her position, then she was gladly mistaken.

My fists tightened beneath the shadows of my curled arms as she started to lift her hand to touch me. "Cell," she started softly, gently.

"Do not bother."

"Cell…look, I'm sorry for the way I acted. It was childish."

"It was repulsive."

"Yes," she said without defense. "Please…don't be cross with me."

"Oh I'm not cross with you," I replied. "You just made me realize that I was extremely irrational for thinking of you as more than just another insufficient human. I should've killed you before things got out of hand."

"Well, here's your chance again," she said. "But please…do it so I can see your face while I die."

I looked at her with a sudden feeling of ease coming over my body. My fists had loosened almost completely as I stared down at her humble features. "No, Layrial, I will not."

"It's the least I deserve after I just acted like that towards you."

"Do not make me repeat myself," I said sternly. "I will not kill you. And I would never look directly at _you_ while doing so. I refuse."

Instead of begging me further, she moved around to pull me into her arms. She pressed her face up against my body and I had no choice but to let my hands untangle themselves and rest on her shoulders. I was so ashamed at how she was able to real me in it wasn't even worth the attempt to laugh.

"I will say this once and only once, Layrial," I said. "You have done something to me that I still don't completely understand. And while I will not go back on Dr. Gero's wishes, I will say this—you have made the time waiting for this tournament amusing and pleasurable…for more reasons than one."

I took off at that moment and disappeared into the morning sky. I needed to warm myself up before the Z Fighters started to pour in. I couldn't allow myself to forget or ignore what was laid out before me because I was so taken by this young lady.


	15. It Begins

**Top o' the day to y'all: **Its been a while again, but I'm glad to say that the semester is over, finals are a thing of the past, and I have a nice summer vacation laying before me. So, this story is the next-to-finish on my list; many of you that are "author alert" connected to me probably have seen me posting numerous times over the past week or so...especially today, actually. But that fic was finished and just needed editing/posting. But...I was very bored and finished up this chapter...but didn't edit it XD Oops.

As always, reviews ARE welcome! Don't be shy! I love them! Really, I do! hehe

And, of course, enjoy. I think you'll enjoy certain aspects of this chapter ;)

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**Chapter 15: **_It Begins_

I had spent only half of an hour or so warming up. The morning was still young, but I knew that my rivals could appear at any given moment. I powered up, practiced an array of kicks, punches and minor ki attacks before finally standing straight and looking around at the world. By the end of the day all of this would be a memory—a memory that could only serve me and those who lived outside the planet that were aware of its existence.

I would not fail.

Returning to the arena, I found Layrial nearly in the same spot I left her in. She noticed me coming and I quickly removed any evidence of the smile that had broadened across my face upon my arrival. She moved aside respectively and gave me space as I settled down on the tiles of the ring.

My smile returned almost instantly when she looked timid and sad. I couldn't help but allow myself to feel a rush of pride and eagerness as the remaining time became closer to the end until the Cell Games began.

"Its time," I thought aloud. My attention turned completely to her and I smiled even more-so than before. "Will you wish me luck, Layrial?"

"I don't know," she said after a long moment of thought. "What do you want me to say?"

I could tell that she was still trying to pick me apart and discover what my take on her was. "Oh I was just curious to see if you'd say yes to me," I replied smugly. "I didn't get my hopes up if that's what you think." She turned her head as if to ignore me and the irritation started to open up yet another new chapter inside of me. I wasn't about to have this girl blow off something so important—if she wanted to stay, I would make her show some sort of interest besides sitting there in her own silence.

"Layrial, you are about to witness the biggest battle of all time," I stated. "You should be excited."

"Will it hurt your ego if I say I'm not?"

"It might just that," I said and I went over to her. She looked so very small while sitting down and I standing over her. I wondered just how intimidating my size was for her. "You've tied yourself to me, Layrial. What will you say when this is all over?"

"I don't know. But I can say I'm not tied to you."

"Oh I think you are."

"We're not a couple, Cell. It's just…"

"Just a what?" She was stuck and she knew I realized this. I was eager to push her over the edge.

"…a fling."

A fling...I'm sure that's exactly what she thought of this as. "If that's what you want to call it, then by all means." I held out my hand to her and she took it without hesitation—a surprise to me, but I wasn't complaining. Pulling her to her feet and putting my arm around her, I could see the questioning look settling in her eyes. I pushed some of her hair behind her small ear and smiled gently—or as gently as I could allow myself in my current mood of excitement towards the day's upcoming events. "This could be our last moment together, dearest Layrial," I said softly.

"What if you're the one to die?" She asked humbly.

"I highly doubt that will be the case," I replied. I couldn't help myself get as much out of this last moment with her as I could. The seductiveness I had practiced on her earlier started to show through me again and I didn't bother restraining it. I lowered my head to her ear and brushed my lips against it. I could feel her muscles constraining and a shiver overcame her. "Will you still not consider my offer?"

"I will not be the only human alive," she said. "Please stop acting like this."

I couldn't comply with her request. I knew by the rate of her heartbeat and the level of her energy that she didn't want me to leave her be. I kissed her face gently until I finally found her mouth. She willingly allowed herself to give into the lust both of us felt.

But finally it was time to end all of the contact between us; I pulled my head up and looked at her in a way that quickly puzzled her and her expression clearly stated so. "I wish I didn't have to say that that will be the last time we will be in each other's embrace, but that was your choice."

"Stop," she said before turning her head away from me. I smiled to myself, but couldn't resist continuing our conversation.

"I realize we've been down this road before, Layrial, but I want to see if it's changed since the last encounter," I said. "Do you love me?"

"No," she replied quickly. "I could never love you…."

I moved away from her completely and smiled still. "Well then, at least we still agree on something."

"I'd find a spot to place yourself, my dear," I said as I walked back to the center of the platform. "There is a van approaching. You don't want people to start to wonder what's been taking place here."

Layrial moved away as I suggested, but what I kept a close watch on was the white-colored van that headed towards my direction. I could tell from the satellite atop the vehicle that it was yet another news crew trying to make the story of the century. They could have their worthless story—unless people tune in for a live broadcast they'll never know what had taken place.

The van stopped short of a mile or so away from the ring and I saw two men appear—one near middle age and another closer to the years of Layrial. They moved as if in stealth across the open terrain to a mountainous hill where they disappeared from my line of site momentarily. Seconds later, however, two little heads popped up over the edge of the rocks and a camera was pointed directly towards me. I felt like sneering, but kept it to myself as I looked back into the direction of the street.

Not more than a moment later another automobile approached. It was long and black, but I knew that whoever occupied it was not one of the Z Warriors—I expected them to arrive by ki flight rather than man-made transportation. The car kicked up enough dust to allow any living animal within a thirty-foot radius to see that something was interrupting the peacefulness of the morning.

When the car stopped and a tall hairy man emerged, I nearly laughed. He approached me with such high stamina I wondered if he realized just who I was. The smirk smeared across his face, however, made my expression remain unmoved and stubborn to the thought of laughing at him. He had absolutely no power worth testing; he was stronger than say the average human, but the likes of Goku's little friend Krillin was more than what this ape had to offer.

"You're going down!" He shouted at me with a rough voice that scratched my ears the moment his mouth opened. His hand shoved forward towards me, curled into a fist, but the thumb pointing towards the ground. Whatever he meant by this gesture, I didn't care, but the accusation made me want to kill him before I had to witness any more useless commentary from his obscenely large mouth.

Before I knew it, however, he had turned and motioned for the two men on the rocky hill to come hither. They cautiously did so, this being known to me since what they thought were light footsteps echoed against my eardrums as they hustled forward. The moment I heard the loud-mouthed man start up and the puny punk of a reporter reply, I could tell that the humility they were about to suffer would be a sweet reward to my patience.

The burly man turned from me, bent over and repeatedly slapped his hind quarters with his hand. "I'm gonna spank you, Cell!" He shouted, a mix of laughter filling the air as he continued this hideous display.

I noticed that while he was making a complete fool of himself, the little man who I'm sure called himself a sleuth reporter was questioning Layrial disrespectfully. I watched from the corners of my eyes as Layrial turned him away as easily as he had started conversing with her. A small sense of pride ran through my chest; if only she had slapped him or kicked him somewhere unmentionable, I would've applauded her without thought of consequences at the thoughts in the audiences at home.

It was a fair amount of time, however, until the next fighter arrived; or should I say for the first fighter to arrive? I refused to acknowledge the mere idea that this…human…wanted a piece of me, as he clearly stated for all to hear across the planet. My head craned to the side and I smiled as Vegeta came hustling in, his power level raised in probable attempts to try to alert me that he had grown stronger since our last meeting. I had nearly killed him once—it would take nothing to finish him off for good this time around.

He landed and stared at me with cold black eyes, but I couldn't help but give a small smirk back at him. The proud prince was nothing compared to me, although he would never agree to admit that his chances of survival in my line of fire was so small an insect wouldn't be able to detect it. Before he could even try to exchange words with me, however, the annoying little man hurried over and stuck the microphone into the poor prince's face; for the one and only time in my life, I might've felt sorry for him.

"Quiet," Vegeta said viciously. "I've had enough of your insolence."

_Well said, Vegeta_, I thought to myself as the little man hurried back over to his over-built friend, whom I had learned by now was some sort of world champion in terms of martial arts. I'd be more than eager to allow him to _try_ to inflict even a speckle of dust on me.

Moments later I was aware of another approaching being, though from the opposite direction of where Vegeta came from. I smiled broadly as I realized it was not of a living creature, but an android—a lower, much more inferior model than myself. The tall, Mohawk-topped android landed as Vegeta had, with a firm unyielding face that tried to spell out trouble in front of me. I laughed. "Android Sixteen, you're still alive and kicking! And with beautiful repairs, no less," I smirked. There came no response, but I said nothing since the man I was waiting for finally arrived.

The obnoxiously annoying fellow behind me continued chanting odd and rude comments, but I said nothing. Soon, though, all was quiet when the rest of my company noticed that seven new people were coming in fast. Amongst them was Goku. Finally, my Cell games had begun.

As I stared to stare Goku down I immediately heard useless chants of "Hercule Rules" from behind me, the little man's annoyingly hyper voice clashing with my thoughts and dismantling them. If it weren't for the fact I wanted to show my powers off to the rest of the world I would have dismantled him right then and there.

I was forced to turn my attention back to the child-like man as he spoke to me, but I refused to look at him. I allowed him to know I was waiting for him to do what he had to do before he found he was an utterly useless creature. "I'm not going to wait around for you to hurt innocent bystanders, Cell," he said quite loudly. "I'm going to give you one last chance to back down before I pound your face!"

_His ignorance is painful,_ I thought as he laughed audibly. He threw out a small little contraption that was no bigger than an inch in length. With a puff of smoke, a small bag appeared and the man proceeded to reveal its hidden contents. He stacked up nearly twenty-five tiles, of lesser quality than the ones I used for my own arena. I rolled my eyes and glanced over to Goku, who glared back at me with what I believed to be anticipation.

I heard a smashing of ceramic behind me and I knew that the man tried to destroy the tiles. I turned my attention back to him—all but one tile lay in pieces on my polished floor. I had a horrible urge to tell ask him if that was the best he could do, then continue with demonstrating my complete destruction of the remaining fragments.

"Alright buster lets get this started! Hawww!"

The ogre-like man lunged at me, his foot whipping up to smack my head. I stared at him coldly and unamused when he landed on his feet after not even causing my skin to shiver. He obviously didn't realize he created absolutely no damage. He tried whatever he thought he knew, kicks and punches galore, but I stood still and allowed him to have his small moment of glory. He jumped back, bounced in place and smiled at me with oh-so-terrifying eyes.

"And now for my finish!" He shouted.

Unfortunately for him, though, his last attack was just that—his last. He came at me in a hurling leap, but before contact could be made on his part, I flung out my arm and sent him clear across the ring, the desert floor and into a nearby cliff. I stood motionless for several moments as everyone stood silent; I dwelled in the knowledge that reporter finally had nothing charming to say.

"Let's get the tournament underway," I said while turning my attention to the Z Fighters. "Will it be Goku to start things off?"

"Let's do it," the Saiyan replied. He stepped up onto the ring and walked across it with confidence and ease. He kept his power level repressed and I smiled as I boosted mine just a fraction to let him know he would have to work harder than ever before if he had hopes in defeating me.

I couldn't allow myself to become concerned with anything else around me. Layrial, the stupid man and the rest of Earth's warriors had to be blocked out. The only one, however, I feared that would attract attention to herself was Layrial. Would she jump out and do something stupid? Or would she sit there and yell at me while I pounded the Saiyan into the ground?

Either way, I continued to stare at Goku with pride and honor. "As I'm sure you know by now," I said, "I've been waiting for this. Killing the helpless quickly grows old. I look to you for amusement while I test my body."

"I hear you're designed to use all of our techniques against us," Goku replied without a hint of fear or doubt in his voice.

I smiled and stood up very straight, my head nodding in agreement with his statement. "Perfection."


	16. Rivals of a Different Color

**AN:** This is probably the second to last chapter, but I'm not completely 100 percent sure on how accurate that statement is since I've yet to start chapter 17. Anyway, this chapter is pretty much straight forward and kinda dull if you know what chapter it relates to from the original story. The only thing I found entertaining was the way Cell ended up thinking during parts of this, which may be of interest. Of course, I still recommend reading it (and review please!) since it is part of the story and leads into the next chapter.

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**Chapter 16: **_Rivals of a Different Color_

The confidence that spread over Goku's face was amusing. I stood straight and tall, my body feeling relaxed but ready for whatever the Saiyan wanted to try first. For several moments we stood in place and stared the other down, as if the first too blink would be the first to die. I held the gaze with a strong will and refused to blink even once; he, on the other hand, smiled more broadly and closed his eyes as if taking in the last bit of his calm mannered life that would soon come to an end. Defeating Goku would be not only a trial, but the ultimate victory.

I flexed my hands, cracking each knuckle of every finger while I prepared my power. I figured the match would start of simple and cool without much effort being thrown forward; a warm up, I believe, would be in order for both of us. I can only imagine what his inferior friends would think when they saw what I considered a brief warm up.

"Ding," I said to the yellow-haired man before me. He bolted forward and landed a decent punch, but it did nothing to set me back. For countless minutes we skirmished back and forth with kick after kick, punch for punch, and a head bang here and there. Goku was fast and I was impressed by his speed with his power level at its minimum for his Super Saiyan league.

To the ring, into the air and back to the ring again did we fight, but it seemed as mere child's play. I held back a massive amount of my power since I knew all too well Goku was doing the same. I could tell that he was holding it in until he needed to unleash it. The one drawback to this was I was a tad bit uncertain to exactly to what degree his power could rise. I knew where I would go if I powered up to my full potential, but was there that small possibility that Goku still had the strength to overthrow me?

I doubted it; oh yes, I doubted it very much. I knew he was strong, the strongest of all of the warriors this planet has seen in the past, but he couldn't match me. I had his genes along with everyone else's. He had no chance to take on such a being as me.

We stopped high in the air, hovering over the arena with our hands tightly locked together. He pushed forward, as did I, but I squeezed tightly to cause his knuckles to crunch together—not enough to break them, of course. Where would the fun be in that? I did, however, quickly grow tired of this standstill; I threw my head forward, our foreheads connecting and pushing the Saiyan backwards. He must have expected it, however, because milliseconds later he kicked up and I started sailing backwards.

We simultaneously returned to the ring and continued or small squall of simple martial arts techniques until both of us jumped back to allow the other to take a small moment to reflect on what the past ten minutes had given us. Goku smiled at me, his eyes glistening in the heat of the moment and the glorious feeling of hand-to-hand combat. I too felt the same way and I indeed allowed myself a pleasant smile. Everyone around the tournament arena stood still and silent. I could barely detect their breathing patterns, as if they were so taken aback by my performance they forgot how to inhale and exhale the required oxygen.

"Nice work, Goku," I complimented.

"You're not so bad yourself," he replied as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. I wouldn't allow him to take another moment to rest—he was fighting me and we would play by my rules and my rules said that resting was not an option. I darted forward, swung forcefully only to meet a gust of air as Goku disappeared. I stood up straight, my eyes catching a glimpse of Layrial as she stood directly in front of me on the desert floor. I couldn't allow myself to remain focused on her—I looked past her and concentrated on Goku's movements. Fists and feet came from multiple directions, but I easily blocked each and every one.

I could tell by the way he was attacking from each direction that he was leaving it up to me to end this part of our encounter. I kicked out seconds later, causing him to slow down and appear to the crowd. He wasted no time, however, in gaining back his composure. I attacked and missed as he darted behind me. I knew he was coming up fast so I held up my arms in defense; what I didn't expect, though, was for him to seem as if he were three seconds faster than he really was.

I had never experienced this trick before and unfortunately it caught me off guard. I lost my hold on the ground and Goku started to push me back. I was aware that the edge of the ring was approaching quickly; soon my heel slipped off the edge and Goku took that opportunity to kick me hard enough to push me back. I allowed myself to fall far enough to make everyone think it was already over; the pathetic bystanders were easily fooled. I stopped midair, hovered, my wings only inches from touching the hot dirt of the desert.

I smiled to myself and held myself straight as I returned my body to its normal vertical stance. I kept my arms crossed comfortably across my chest and looked at the knowing Saiyan. "Sorry," I said, "but did you think you had defeated me?"

"I won't fall for you cheap pranks," Goku replied. "I knew all along that it wouldn't be that easy to take you out, Cell."

"I thought it'd be appropriate to play a little joke since you aren't fighting me seriously," I returned.

"Hey, you're holding back as well," Goku said truthfully.

"Little by little I shall reveal to you the perfect power that lies within me," I assured him. "You seem to be enjoying yourself very much. I'm not surprised; as a Saiyan fighting is all you live for."

"Are you saying you're any different?" Goku asked.

I chuckled and proceeded to walk forward. "Well it depends on who I'm fighting…"

Moments later, after another array of pointless kicks and punches finished, it seemed that it was time to raise the level a little more. Goku took a chance to power up; an impressive display, I had to admit, but he wasn't fooling me. I smiled and nodded graciously at him and gave myself a chance to display the same show Goku had created only I took it up one more notch in hopes of thrusting a little fear into the rest of his little gang.

For another around did the same attacks drive, but soon I had decided to give my audience a little more to indulge upon. I stood up and crossed my arms over my face, creating the necessary alignment of my body and strength to do what I was about to perform. "I've got a surprise for you," I said before using the technique Goku's three-eyed friend, Tien, was an expert of.

The illusion I created of my body splitting into three extra equal parts, four of me in all, was easy and usually a little mind boggling to opponents who didn't understand its formation. "This won't work on me," Goku said for the benefit of the little reporter behind him who was having a horrible time comprehending anything taking place. I hadn't expected it to fool the Saiyan; instead, I hoped to weaken him a little bit more before I got serious.

It didn't take him long to finish off my little trick. Soon I found myself crashing to the ground, my three equivalents landing on top of me in ultimately fusing back into my own body. I allowed myself to lay there perfectly still, holding my breath and subduing my power just enough to throw nearly everyone able to detect ki power off. I heard Vegeta lecture his son, Trunks, that I was not dead—that I was playing a trick on them. The Saiyan prince was very smart, but he was much too arrogant to produce any worthy skills that combined knowledge and brute strength.

I stood up at that point and brushed off my arms as a bored gesture to my inferiors. "Good work, Goku. Perhaps you are a fighter worthy enough to fight me."

"Oh boy…" he replied unmoved.

Now the party started to get excited. I made the first move to throw a ki blast at my opponent and in turn he delivered a few of his own. They were small, minute balls of energy that would barely even tickle my skin if one were to hit me. The point in using them was to merely throw the other off course in hopes to deliver a much more satisfactory attack.

When the fight brought us back to the air, however, I decided it was time to open things up a bit more. I hovered before Goku, my limbs outstretched and my expression bold and serious to every extent of the meaning. I looked down at the arena and located each person—only four could possibly die from this attack since they didn't have the speed or agility to remove themselves from the line of fire. Layrial, unfortunately, would be one of those four, but there was nothing I was about to do about it. If she were lucky someone would save her little life.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Goku asked suddenly.

"I'm tired of being confined to that ring," I replied. "You might want to tell your friends to clear the area."

As I gathered the necessary power to do what I intended, Goku yelled down to the spectators and warned them to get out of the way. I laughed as I brought the power to the palm of my hand and reached out to fire upon the tournament arena I had built with my own hands. Within moments…it was gone and the only remains of anything there was a nice-sized crater several meters deep.

Goku and I returned to the Earth and each took one step, then a second on the surface of the ground. He glared at me, as if shocked I'd break the rules of the game, but it was, after all, my game. I took a split second to look around at the survivors and for some strange reason I felt a little relieved to see Layrial standing alone, completely awe-struck. "What do you think, Goku? It's quite an improvement," I said. "Now the whole desert is our ring. Let's say the last one standing wins the game."

"So it's a fight to the end," he responded.

"Would you have it any other way?" I asked with a smirk.

"No," he replied as he stretched his legs.

"Enough talk," I said and immediately unleashed a swirling ki blast. He darted away, tried a few attacks of his own, but I dodged each one. Except, however, he surprised me with a forceful fist to the mouth. I leaned back and took it, but before I allowed my eyes to return to meet his gaze, I tapped my thumb over the small trickle of blood that leaked from my bottom lip. It was a very minor cut that would heal soon enough, but it was the first hurtful blow I received that day.

Goku was tired, though. We stood still for quite some time, both in the air once again, and I'll have to say that my lungs pulled in more air than usual. I might have decreased slightly in energy, but Goku was worn out.

I didn't, however, expect what happened next. He removed his aura and his power returned to the state it had been in upon his arrival. My eyes grew wide and I followed him as he returned to the desert floor. "I see that you've grown tired, Goku," I pointed out.

"Not much more than you have," he replied, but his grin remained steady and strong. "I didn't know when I came out here today if I had what it would take to beat you Cell, but now I know that I don't. So….I give up."

My heart stopped and I gasped. I couldn't even start to believe what he had just said. Goku, Super Saiyan and top fighter known to the universe was backing down as if it were allowed and as if I'd accept his loss. The only reason this man would be done is if I killed him and I was far from that point. I had wanted to play around a little longer until I upped the odds and took him down, smearing his humility across each person that watched this tournament.

"You can't be serious," I stated. "You can't just expect to give up and walk away."

"Sure I can," Goku said. "You beat me fair and square."

"If you're not going to fight me and if no one else steps up then I'll reduce this planet to rubble!" He was _not_ going to get away with this…

Goku shook his head. "Not so fast, Cell. There is one other person that you need to fight, and he's a lot stronger than I am."

I looked at him hard and with a cold gaze, my knowledge of the ones off to the side making me want to cringe in thinking I'd have to sully my hands in battling them. "You can't honestly be thinking to go through with this," I said. "You don't possibly think that one of them—" he nudged his head to the men on the ledge—"has what it takes to defeat me."

Goku went to his friends on the cliff, leaving me to remain in place as he talked with his darling son. I couldn't even imagine what the hell he was thinking or had planned. If all of this was just a game to him, then he was dumber than I took him for. The fate of his miserable planet lay on the line and he was willing to throw it away to one of the people he thought might be strong than he? I highly doubted there was such a being! He was fooling himself!

I looked around as he continued to talk, my frustration taking a firm grip on my muscles. Layrial looked up at me and I caught her eyes for only a second. I would refuse to allow her or myself to look upon the other longer than necessary. I would rather admit that I may have loved her for that time we spent together than be bothered with fighting a man that wasn't even close to matching my power. The aggravation was infuriating!

Then it hit me—he was sending his son…that miserable little brat, Gohan, to fight me and to supposedly finish me off. This boy had nothing! He was less powerful than his father in his current state and there was no way he could possibly draw enough power within himself to have a chance to take me down! What sort of blow to the head did Goku suffer to think this was possible?

I smiled and laughed lightly to myself. If Goku wanted to see me beat his son into the ground, then so be it. In fact, this would be a delightful scene to look upon. I would shove Goku's face into the mud when he realized he had made a grave mistake and relied on a child to do his dirty work.

"So, child, you're going to take over what your father couldn't finish," I said. "If that's the way he wants to play it out, then so be it. Most sons aren't willing to die fighting their father's battles, you know. Your devotion is most admirable."

"Hey Cell!" My head turned slightly to see Goku tossing something very small at me. I caught it easily and looked upon the small green bean. "Here! It's a Senzu bean—eat it!"

I knew exactly what this was. I had held one before, but I had never had the pleasure of experiencing its magic. I knew what it was supposed to do was indeed true, since the dose I gave to Layrial had worked instantly and her broken arm was healed in the blink of an eye.

I popped the small bean into my mouth and chewed it until it traveled down my throat. I waited…and an instant later I felt every muscle, ever fiber in my body return to its full extent of strength. I powered up my energy, yelling in satisfaction as I did so. I was fresh and ready for this battle.

"Wonderful," I commented. "Now let's get started."


	17. The Pieces Crumble

**Woot:** Well, I underestimated the length of the ending I put on this story. It was far too long to make it into one last chapter, so you've got this one and one more, though 18 isn't as long. This chapter has some of it, but chapter 18 especially is written from scratch with no influences from the original story. Actually, I like chapter 18.

But you have to read this one first. Review please… :)

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**Chapter 17: **_The Pieces Crumble_

Boldly, the child stood his ground as I approached him. I was more than relaxed and settled with the matter that I would have to severely wound this kid before Goku would jump in to finish the job his son wouldn't be able to handle. The Saiyan race was far too proud to prevent their ignorance from showing through the thin curtain they held up so high over their heads. Their downfall had come from being much too proud to accept the fact that they were weak and controlled by an outsider. Independent as they were, they couldn't face the truth that none of them had the chance to survive. Goku and Vegeta may be the exception to the rule, but soon they will meet the same fate they should have when their home planet was destroyed.

But the matter at hand was getting rid of this kid. He powered up to a higher level; I'd allow him to think he had a chance, but in the long run he'd learn to respect me. Before I could step any further than about ten feet or so, Gohan leapt into the air and continued to ascend. I followed, he moved another direction, and I followed again. He attempted to toy with me, but he had no idea I was toying with him. Finally I started to apply attacks, mild ones, but enough to keep him on his toes. He was able to deflect them and I saw that he did have his father's strength…just not all of it.

I turned things up a degree and upped my speed. He tried to fly away yet he wasn't thinking clearly. I was able to out run him and literally knock some sense into him. He grunted with each blow I made and finally I a swift kick to his head knocked him back to the ground.

He stood up as I landed gently on my feet, his eyes staring up in hopes to intimidate me. What a pathetic little boy. "Well, Gohan, I see you're ready for round two."

"I'm ready whenever you are you creep." A defying statement, but it didn't affect me in the least.

I laughed to myself as I started another round of attacks. It seemed to be taking the same course as before, but I wasn't about to let him think he'd be able to survive a second battle. I kicked him directly in the gut and sent him flying backwards into a small mountainous plateau. As expected the point at which the child hit was enough to cause the rock to snap and collapse in thousands of large and small pieces on top of him. I stood my ground, proud and smiling.

"That was almost too easy," I said for my own benefit. "Then again, it always is." I turned and looked up at the group several feet above, but surprisingly Goku didn't seem a bit angry. "Well Goku, it seems I have won. Now, are you going to fight me or not?"

"Nope! Take a look behind you!" he shouted back.

I turned and watched, and it was then I realized I had gotten ahead of myself. Gohan's life force was not even close to ending; rather, it was still very much at the same level he had started at. I frowned as the debris burst and flew everywhere. Gohan walked forward, his face stern and unyielding as he came towards me.

"I see that you have more nerve than I gave you credit for," I said finally.

"You don't have to do this," he said. "This fighting—it's meaningless."

His words forced me to laugh; I looked down upon his small body and eyed him wickedly. "Do honestly think I'll stop my Cell Games because _you_ think they're meaningless? Well think again! If you don't fight me here today I'll destroy the Earth! Now how's that for meaning?"

"You don't get it…."

It was then he tore into a long story that consisted of just how fearful he could be. He claimed that each time he was forced into battle, moments before he was about to be terminated, an inner force lurched forth and took control. According to him it would unleash a massive amount of power that not even I could stand up to.

When he was finished, I smirked and looked upon him as if he had just given me a best seller. "An interesting story; but it didn't work. Not in the way you expected, that is. In fact, you've given me something to work for. I want to see this power of yours for myself!"

I started again but this time I made sure I didn't hold back to prolong the battle for my own amusement. I would push him until I got what I wanted! I would force him to unleash this power so I could finally have the challenge I was looking for. "Do you hear me? I want you to be furious!" I smacked him around and caused him to suffer more bruises and cuts than my last engagement had given him. He yelled, screamed and fumbled around, but finally he jumped back and smacked my head. I leaned back, dabbed my lip to see that the wound given by Goku had opened up again. I smiled. "Well then, I might just get through to you yet."

I drew my energy from my core and allowed it to flow only towards my index finger. I pointed it at the boy and shot out the streamline beam, aiming for the ground purposely to make the kid jump around. It was highly amusing, I must say, to see the child jumping on all fours.

And then he darted in front of a small rock that was shielding someone….Stupid Layrial stood there in the open battle ground, staring at me as if I would stop before striking. She knew my warnings but yet she still hadn't taken them seriously. I would not spare her life! As I shot yet another beam she jumped away, it narrowly missing her.

Finally I grew tired of this attack and decided that direct contact would be the best method. I hurled myself forward and before Gohan had a chance to realize what was happening, I had him embraced between my arms and body. He was helpless to escape with his arms clad against his sides from my grasp. He had no chance and he knew it, though he tried to struggle as I squeezed more and more, cutting off his air supply slowly and his bones beginning to merge into others.

"Think about it—what a wretched way to die! And there's nothing no one can do about it; except for you, Gohan. So get angry! It makes you mad that you're in pain." He yelled and hollered, but finally I saw that it wouldn't do anything. I'd crush him before he allowed himself to reveal these hidden powers to me. I needed a new strategy…

And then it came to me seconds later. I released my extremely tight hold on the boy and let him fall to the ground, choking and gasping for large intakes of air. "Stubborn child," I said. "You refuse to fight back no matter how much pain is inflicted upon you. Perhaps you'll react better to the pain of your friends."

Quickly, before Gohan had time to react to my words, I flew up to the cliff and stopped in front of Goku and his friend Krillin. I smiled to myself when I eyed the bag in his hands and then noticed the horrible look of fear that froze the small bald man's face. I snatched the bag of what I knew contained Senzu beans and returned to the ground where Gohan remained on all fours, still panting over the way I nearly strangled his little body. My fingers held the bag tightly so there was no way any of those mortals could easily get them back if they tried—for my plan to work these things had to be kept out of their reach.

"Wait…what are you going to do?" the boy asked with terror outlining his scratchy voice.

"Whatever it takes to make you angry!" I snapped back.

"No! Please, don't do this! If my powers are unleashed I won't be able to stop it. I'll kill you."

"Oh I assure you that once I've had my fill I'll stop you myself," I said with a small grin. However, before I could continue with the idea that had struck me, I realized something large approached me from behind. I barely had enough time to turn around before I was seized in the same manner I had captured the boy, only this time I was the victim and Android 16 was my capturer.

"Sixteen, stop this!" I yelled as I felt my body being crushed by his powerful arms. I may have been stronger than the android, but he was larger than I was and his bind was very secure. I had no choice but to hang there and struggle, seeing my very actions play back out on me. I growled with anger and squirmed more, but nothing worked. I was trapped.

"Stay back!" the foolish android yelled to the people on the cliff. "I will kill him by self-destructing." I hadn't even considered that he'd…if he triggered that bomb everyone would be gone! I would have no chance at surviving the blast at such a close proximity! And no matter how hard I tried, I still couldn't free myself.

"There is a powerful explosive inside of me that was meant to be a last resort," Sixteen explained. "I am sorry that we androids caused so much pain and suffering. Cell, no matter how strong you have become you will not survive this explosion."

I already knew that, damn it! I cursed the day I allowed the android to walk free—I should've destroyed him when I had the chance during our first meeting!

However…I realized that several moments had passed and although I heard the android powering up to release his furry, nothing happened. "What? The trigger's gone!" He yelled in my ear. I looked at him dumbfounded, as if I had prepared myself for what was to come—though I know I hadn't.

"You can't Sixteen!" came a cry from the cliff. "'Cause your bomb…was removed!"

A chuckle immediately escaped my mouth. The stupid machine had miscalculated and now he would suffer from his mistake. The shock that had struck him had loosened his hold on me just enough for my arms to push myself free. He continued to stand still with a pitiful expression twisted onto his face. I didn't take a single moment to consider sparing him again; this time I would do the job right. I quickly sent a blast through the palm of my hand and instantly the large android blew into millions of pieces that scattered the surrounding area.

"Now, let's try some friendly persuasion," I said standing up tall. I turned and counted the people on the cliff, nodding to myself as I agreed by saying, "That's easy enough."

I knew that the strain on my body would be painful, but I was determined to test out this technique I had been given upon reaching my perfect form. I knew I could do it; it was just that I didn't know how much it would take out of me. However, creating clones of myself would make the job so much easier.

I leaned my body back slightly and spread my wings out. The tail on my back below my shoulder blades grew wider as I concentrated on engaging in the deed. I searched my body and found the supply of cells that held the replicas I was looking for. I triggered seven of them and they grew larger as they traveled up the track to my open tail. One by one I spit each of them out; and one by one they stood up and looked towards me with devilish grins.

"Now, my dear children," he said merrily. "Those seven on that cliff are your enemies. Give them pain; kill them if it makes you happy!"

Without hesitation each of them flew up with a delightful giggle as they jumped in the faces of each Z Fighter standing on the cliff. I could feel a sheer sense of pride as I saw just how ruthless and uncaring each of them was.

"No! Make them stop!" Gohan begged, his little face displaying a flowing of tears.

"Not until you snap!" I told him gleefully. "If you don't find those hidden powers of yours, your friends _will die._"

"Cell stop!" said a feminine voice from the side.

I looked to my right and saw Layrial standing not far from where I stood, her face terrified and yet angry. How dare she interfere with this…I told her that I would have nothing to do with her during this tournament and if she thought she could control me, especially in front of these people, she was gladly mistaken. "Stay out of this!" I yelled at her.

She backed off immediately and looked as if she were about to burst into the horribly pathetic display of human emotions by crying. I sneered at her and wondered how the hell I could allow myself to get tangled up with such a creature. She annoyed me something awful and now she was signing her death warrant.

"I said stop it!" Gohan yelled from behind me. "STOP IT!"

I could feel my eyes widen suddenly when I saw that the boy's energy was growing rapidly. I smiled to myself when it struck me that he must be finally unleashing these hidden powers he bragged about earlier. Soon I would finally have the chance to prove myself to this little planet that I am perfect.

The dust from the ground swirled around the boy and he was hidden from my sight for several moments. I knew that his power level was surpassing that of his father's and it created a motion of excitement inside of me. I could barely wait for him to finish. Once he was done I planned on commanding my offspring to finish off those that mattered not and I'd take care of the child down here. With all of them out of the way, the planet's destruction would be at my bidding.

When it was done though…I saw that I hadn't even expected this power of his to be as high as it was. He was far above the level his father could reach at maximum strength and although I knew I could easily kill Goku at his best…

No, it was impossible that anyone was stronger than me. This child was no exception. I would prove myself and show everyone that even hidden powers were no match for me. Even when he snatched the bag of Senzu beans from my hand before I had a chance to react, I convinced myself he was nothing.

Yet…he was more than a match for my Cell Juniors. I watched in extreme frustration and anger as he went from spot to spot, easily destroying the little terrors when his dear friends couldn't even land a single punch. My fists curled tightly beneath my folded arms. My teeth were clenched together to the point they might shatter upon any more pressure.

When Gohan returned and looked me over, I growled without thinking twice of my etiquette. "Look at what you've done!" I said, but quickly regained my composure. "No matter though, I can easily put you in your place. You will soon learn some manners and see what its like to fight a real warrior."

"Can it," he said simply, his face unfaltering.

I jumped at him. I followed his every move and tried multiple times to land one attack, but I kept missing. I couldn't believe what was happening and I tried to locate the problem. No matter how hard I tried, how much I pushed my power I couldn't grab the kid. I couldn't even come close. He was gone before my arm finished reaching out. His speed was incredible and he was surpassing me…

NO! I would not allow this to happen! "Hold still!" I yelled at him and tried harder. Finally I stopped going after him and decided it was time for more drastic measures. "You've pushed me far enough," I said stubbornly. "You leave me no choice but to finish this once and for all!"

He was unmoved by my words, but it mattered not to me. I'd show him what true power was. I gathered energy and started to create Goku's famous Kamehameha wave. I pushed a tremendous amount of energy into it. Just as I was about to release it, Gohan moved away, but my ki attack followed him. I saw out of the corner of my eyes just why he moved—that stupid Layrial was standing there. Pity I would missed her—she deserved to die after disobeying me.

The child deflected it. I snarled and went up after him…but I felt something that I hadn't felt since I was in my previous form. He landed his fist into the side of my face so hard I could feel my jaw crack. I couldn't support myself and I crashed to the ground. I got up quickly, but he was there to put me back down, my face in the dirt and my pride broken. I banged my fists on the ground and got up again, firing ki blasts over and over at a rapid rate in hopes of hitting him just once. He dodged all of them and I yelled out in aggravation.

He flew to the side as I let out several more blasts….and it was then I stopped and saw someone else frozen in place near a rock. Layrial's eyes grew wide as my most recent energy discharge flew directly at her. I could feel myself halt as well and watch as she remained still. I didn't even realize at first that I had yelled out a sharp "No!" and started heading towards her. I couldn't tell anyone what had come over me just then.

Before I knew it, though, my feet skidded on the ground and everything around me was quiet. Layrial lay dead only ten feet before me, a gaping hold in the center of her body. The heat from the blast singed her flesh and no blood spilt forth. She was dead…her face lay to the side and her beautiful blue hair was spread about her head. I had killed her…I had just killed someone…and actually regretted it.


	18. Destination: Hell

**Chapter 18: **_Destination: Hell_

What came over me was very unexpected. My heart pounded inside of my chest and I cursed myself for being so careless. Yet, I couldn't understand why her life meant so much to me. She had indeed annoyed me and I had wished that I could take her out only moments ago. However, I knew I wasn't purposely aiming for her. Seeing her, however, dead from my own hands struck me harder, it seemed, than Gohan's fist against my mouth.

"You stupid android," I heard from behind me. I could tell he was close, but I didn't look at him. "You see now why I must kill you? You can't control yourself."

"Shut up," I said quickly.

"You're finished, Cell," he continued.

"I said _shut up_!" I yelled, my eyes shutting tightly. I turned to him and stared him down with fierce rage and more than a high level of hatred and disgust. "You are the one that will meet his demise. You _cannot_ win!"

"Whatever," he said and flew up.

I left Layrial's dead body to collect dust as I followed him. I started to raise my energy level to its highest potential. "If I have to prove myself one more time, then so be it."

The memories that followed are not what I like to reflect upon. I know that I had ruined myself the instant I took the short moment to pause when I killed Layrial. As much as the boy was foolish and arrogant, he was right about something—I couldn't control myself. I knew that raising my power level was one thing, but to inflate my size was another. It slowed me down; it made me weaker.

I had doubled my size in order to intimidate the boy. I should have known it wouldn't work since he was much too confident in his own abilities. He had quickly shown me up and nearly broke multiple bones in my body. His strength was unreal. Never in a million years had I considered the _idea_ that someone could overpower me.

The most mind-boggling blow, though, was the one he delivered to my abdomen. He must have hit me just right because mere seconds later I could feel something come over me that was the strangest feeling I had yet to experience. He dislodged something deep within me and I started to choke. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't see and I couldn't tell what was happening. The pain that rushed through my chest was unreal and I can't even begin to explain it.

Horrified as I am to recall it, I had regurgitated Android 18. Without her my body couldn't maintain its complete form and I was shoved back into the reality of the hideous essence I donned with only Android 17 inside of me. There was no mistaken that I had one last resort that would still finish the job I had been given by Dr. Gero. I had to self destruct.

And then…Goku had to act like the hero. He used his little 'instant transmission' technique to bring me somewhere else. I have no idea where it had been, but the course of my actions had followed through and I killed myself. The only good thing about that was that I killed Goku as well…I had at least achieved one thing.

To my most pleasant surprise, however, I hadn't died. My core cell had remained and I was able to bring myself back. The best thing of all was that my body had remembered the status of perfection I gained with Android 18 and I was able to return to that stage. And…I had learned of Goku's transmitting ability.

I returned to Earth. I had killed Vegeta's son quickly and easily. I had shoved massive shock and apprehension into each Z Fighter that remained alive. I decided to not allow them a chance to save their planet—I would destroy it before anything else could happen. I would not make the same mistake twice. Gohan tried to counter my attack with the same version I had thrust forth, but I was stronger.

However…failure seemed to be the theme of the day for me. I was overpowered. I wouldn't have been if those other stupid fools hadn't tried to distract me, not to mention the sudden burst of energy Gohan pushed into his attack. I lost control…I lost my fight…and this time I lost my life.

I hadn't completely realized that there was a world beyond the living realm that Earth and other planets lived in. I soon found myself standing on a long path with my hands bound in green-glowing shackles that I was powerless to break no matter how hard I tried.

"Keep it moving," a strange looking man said as he pushed me from behind. He was taller than I, bulkier in size, but I knew he had no supremacy over me. Yet I couldn't break his control over my arrest; I found that I was powerless to escape. There was a second that followed him and they both laughed when I stumbled from another shove they gave me. I growled at them and shot a deathly glare, but they seemed less terrified of me than they should have been.

I continued walking dully down the long path that lead to a very large, intricate building. I looked around to see yellow clouds everywhere and I realized that this must be the afterlife. The people I saw around me save for my two ugly friends here had golden halos hovering over their head. If I were to glance at my reflection I was sure I had one as well.

And then…there she was, alive and well. She walked in the opposite direction the masses were, being ushered by a smaller version of the two brutes that guarded me. I smiled at her as the distance between us became smaller. Finally, though, I stopped and looked at her lovely face, forgetting that I was the reason that she was here.

"Well Layrial, it seems that things have taken a complete turn around, much to my dismay," I told her. Yet, I couldn't allow the conversation to end without knowing one thing…"But one question still remains on my mind. Did you love me in life?"

"Yes."

I was surprised. When presented with that question earlier she claimed no and it didn't faze me. After all, what human in their right mind would want to be even remotely close to someone such as me? I would have questioned her seriousness had I not detected the tone of her voice that told me that the single word she spoke was true.

"Go!" The ogres behind me commanded and pushed me forward. I continued without argument and left Layrial standing behind me, never to be seen again.

"Cell!" I heard her call. I paused, my escorts growling viciously (as if they thought that scared me), and waited for her to continue. "Did you love me?"

I stood there for what seemed like the longest moment before answering her. Did I love her? I was sure I never felt anything for her; but if that were true then why had I tried to go after her the moment before she died? Why had I felt angry with myself for killing her when I had tried to do so many times before? The only difference this time around was that although I hadn't directly and purposely tried to kill her I had done it.

"If that's what you want to call it," I said and started to finish walking down the path once again. I had looked at her briefly while I said it and her image was permanently etched into my memory. I would never allow anyone else to know that Layrial was the only creature in this universe that I would have spared.

I had ended up in a large room where I felt like I was scaled down to miniature size. The man (who resembled the type of being my two escorts were) had been sitting at a desk larger than any Earthly structure I had seen. He was monstrous and I would have to admit that I wasn't quite sure how to take him. He didn't look at me; instead, he seemed to be reading from some large book opened in front of him.

"Cell, an android from Earth," his booming voice said. "You killed 18,469 humans and one Saiyan during your life, which I see was spent in two time periods."

"That's all?" I asked dissatisfied.

He growled and finally looked at me with heavy black eyes. "You tried to destroy the planet Earth and had every intention of continuing a slaughter of planets in other galaxies, am I right?"

"But of course," I said honestly with a sly smile.

"Cell, I hear-by call you a bad soul and you will spend the entirety of your death in Hell," he said and pounded the desk with a wooden hammer. "Now down you go!"

I had no time to react, which was becoming a constant thing that day. The floor opened up into a large hole beneath me and I found myself falling into a black abyss. I tried to fly, but I had no power to do so. I couldn't even try to defy gravity no matter how hard my attempts were. The darkness grew brighter and soon I found myself falling through a reddish-orange sky towards a pool of what looked like blood.

As embarrassing as it was, I splashed into the grimy water and found myself sinking further and further. I realized that I finally had control over my body and I was able to swim up to the surface where I found several people staring at me from the shore.

"Well, well, what have we here?" The person who spoke this was a small creature with a long thick tale; his body was white save for a few spots of glossy, glass-like purple. I knew that it was Frieza, one of the beings whose cells I had as part of my structure.

The tall man next to him was King Cold, his father and then there were four others I didn't recognize, all varying in sizes and appearances. I jumped out of the water and allowed my wings to relax behind me. "I take it you're Frieza," I said with a smirk.

He sneered at me and contorted his face into uncertainty. "I see you know who I am, but I am not familiar with you, my friend."

I smiled and glanced at him knowing that he was about to realize he was no longer the strongest being in Hell. "My name is Cell."

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**My Thank-You:** I thank all of you for staying with me and reading this. I promise I will never take on such a task as to rewrite a story of that length from a different perspective than the first. It was long…and tedious XD But its done now; and actually I am still hoping to write a fourth installment, though I can't be sure as to when that'll be. Maybe this week, maybe a month from now, yet I do believe it'll happen no matter what. I just have to find my notes XD Best wishes to you all! And here's the main question that's probably horrible to ask of those of you that have read both stories—which P.O.V. did you enjoy more? 


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